True Love's Kiss
by Drivelicious
Summary: Hermione is given a potion by well meaning friends. Now she is forced to kiss all of her crushes -past and present- until she finds her true love. The question is, who is it?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: It all belongs to JK Rowling. I'm just playing a little. The title credit goes to Disney from the movie Enchanted -and to my three year old Goddaughter who insisted on listening to the song over and over and over and over again.** Enjoy!

"You need a date."

"No I don't."

"It's a ball Hermione. You have to have a date to go to the ball."

"No I don't."

"You can't show up alone. You are the one who introduced me to all those muggle fairy tales. A princess never goes to the ball alone."

"For one thing, I'm not a princess. For another, Cinderella went to the ball by herself. She didn't have a date."

"Cinderella met her prince at the ball. She at least had someone to dance with."

"Ginny, I know you mean well but you are making me feel worse. Are you saying that if I don't have a date, nobody will even dance with me?"

"No! Of course not. That wasn't what I meant. Plenty of guys will dance with you. I'm sure my brothers and Harry will all dance with you but don't you want your own Prince Charming?"

"No, not really. I wouldn't even be going to this thing if I weren't in charge. I am going to make an appearance, give my speech, and leave."

"Well, it's a month away. We'll find you a date by then."

"I don't want a date!"

"Right, you keep telling yourself that. I've got to run. Bye!"

Hermione watched Ginny practically dance out of the café. They had spent the morning shopping in muggle London for dresses to the ball. Hermione was unfortunately required to go as the co-chairperson of the war orphan relief organization. She and Harry had started the organization after the defeat of Voldemort and had raised quite a bit of money to help families who lost loved ones in the war. It had now expanded to provide assistance to families of imprisoned Death Eaters and victimized muggles. She was proud of their success but wasn't thrilled with the introduction of the charity ball. The ticket sales had been phenomenal though and she couldn't turn her back on the money they were raising.

She sighed as she stood up at the table and gathered her packages. She had found an amazing dress. Ginny had excellent taste and was correct when she suggested the silvery-blue color would compliment her skin tone. She actually looked forward to wearing the dress, but would have rather worn it in the comfort of her own home while watching a movie and eating ice cream. Having to dress up was low on her list of enjoyable activities. Of course she was also aware that even though she protested the idea of having a date, she secretly didn't want to go alone. The problem was there was only one person that she really wanted to go with, her secret crush. It was a well-kept secret that nobody but Crookshanks knew about. Fortunately he was good at keeping secrets. She was too old for crushes anyway. The fact that this crush had been going on for fifteen years meant nothing other than she was a foolish idiot. He was off limits anyway and already had a date. He was so off limits that she was sure he would make that date permanent and propose very soon.

Hermione quickly went into an empty alleyway and apparated back to her flat. Her dress needed to be hung up and she needed to get a little work done around her home. Spending the morning shopping with Ginny was always fun but Saturdays were for cleaning as well.

She finished in the late afternoon and looked around her spotless flat with pride. She enjoyed the manual labor even though she knew she could flick her wand and be done with her chores in an instant. Having no plans for the evening, she pulled out a frozen pizza, did a quick heating spell and sat down in front of the telly for the evening. It wasn't that pathetic staying home on a Saturday night. It wasn't as if all her friends were out having fun. She was sure that all of them were home as well, doing nothing important.

Hermione's female friends were in fact out at a nightclub that had opened in Hogsmeade. Ginny was slightly drunk and giggling loudly with Luna, Lavender, Parvati, Angelina, Katie, Alicia, Padma, Fleur and Pansy. Normally Hermione would have been with them, or at least invited, but Ginny called the girls together to discuss Hermione's love life and that was better handled with her absent.

"So girls I did have a purpose for us getting together." Ginny slurred. She should have started this conversation before she started drinking but she was having too much fun catching up with the girls.

"You mean besides getting shit faced drunk?" Lavender giggled. "I think my face is on fire. Is my face on fire?"

"Have you seen any portmucks? They can make your face burn up." Luna responded.

"Is my face burning up?" Lavender shrieked. "I might have seen one of those things. What do they look like?" Lavender was almost in tears.

"Calm down Lav. Your face is fine, you are just drunk." Padma was the only one sensible since she wasn't drinking. She was six months pregnant and grumpy about being sober. It was now her responsibility to make sure everyone got home safe.

"As I was saying. . . " Ginny started again. "I asked you all to come so we could discuss something important."

"Quidditch?" Angelina asked.

"No, although I do want to talk to you about that later. We need to talk about Hermione's love life." At that, all the girls burst out laughing.

"You mean her lack of one." Parvati giggled.

"Right. She needs a date to the ball. I could get a dozen guys to ask her but I want it to be special. She needs to find her true love. She deserves to be happy."

"Look Ginny, we all love Hermione and you are right, she does deserve to be happy but I think you are dreaming of the impossible. She is too particular about her dates to ever accept anyone as her true love. Besides that's a fairytale dream." Alicia said.

"If living in the wizarding world has taught you anything, it's that fairy tales can come true. I believe in true love." Ginny said with a firm voice.

"I think Ginny's right. I believe in soul mates -or true love if that's what you want to call it. Look at Neville and I, we are madly in love." Padma insisted.

"She's right." Parvati broke in. "Padma and Neville are soul mates, even if I did find it disgusting at first. I would love to help you Ginny but like Alicia said, Hermione is picky. Unless you pull her dream guy out of thin air, there's no way we could help. All the men we know are her friends too and if she hasn't made a move on them yet, I don't think she's interested."

"Let's just throw out some guys we know. We can brainstorm." Katie threw in.

"Great idea. Ok, well Harry's out because he's mine." Ginny said with a smirk.

"He's not yours yet. There's no ring on your finger." Pansy pointed out.

"Not yet but there will be soon. Anyway, who else?"

"Ron?" Luna said.

"He's your boyfriend Luna, why would you bring him up?"

"Well she had a past with him."

"I think we can count him out because of that past. How about George?" Katie asked.

"We are sort of back together." Angelina said shyly.

"Good for you! How about Dean?"

"He's too tall."

"Seamus?"

"Too weird."

"Cormac?"

"Not a chance."

"Draco?"

"She hates him."

"Crabbe? Goyle?"

"Eww!"

"Isn't one of them dead?"

"I always forget that."

"Charlie?"

"Possibly, if he'll give up his dragons."

"Not Bill. He ees married."

"Percy?"

"Gay."

"Really?"

"Blaise?"

"Leave my man out of this." Pansy insisted.

"There's no ring on your finger either." Lavender pointed out.

"Ok, girls. This is getting us nowhere. We could go on for hours. I thought it would be easier than this." Ginny felt defeated and exhausted. The affects of the alcohol were dulling and reality was crashing down on her.

"I do have one idea." Pansy spoke up. "It's probably a really bad idea but it is an idea."

"I'll take anything at this point. What is it?"

"There's a potion. It's not a common one, in fact it's very rare. I inherited a book of rare potions from my grandmother and there is one that is supposed to assist in finding true love. It was apparently brewed as a trick for one of the girls in my grandmother's year at Hogwarts. It forced the girl to kiss any eligible guy that she had ever been attracted to. The biggest problem was that it was widely known that she had a crush on one of the professors and she was forced to kiss him. Apparently they hated this girl."

"That's horrible!"

"Rotten thing to do!"

"I would have had to kiss Professor Snape if someone did that to me!"

"Me too!"

"Oh! Me too!"

The girls all fell into laughter at that point as they all owned up to having a crush on Snape at one time or another. Only Fleur denied it, having never had classes with him.

"How fast can the potion brew?" Ginny asked.

"I'll have to look at the instructions again but I think it depends on how long you want it to last. If my memory is correct, it's one full day per one week of potency."

"So this means that if we want it to last a month, we'll have brew for 4 days. Can you owl me the instructions?" Ginny was excited now. This seemed to be the perfect plan.

"You can't be serious Ginny. Hermione would kill you." Angelina protested.

"She's right." Katie said. "That potion was for a girl they didn't like, we all love Hermione."

"We will be doing it out of love. If we all do this together, she won't know who to be the angriest at. She'll get over it." Ginny said

"Pansy, what exactly do you mean by being forced to kiss someone." Lavender asked.

"Well according to my grandmother's notes, she would be strongly drawn to kiss any available guy that she had ever or is currently attracted to. She wouldn't be able to get him out of her mind until she kissed him and when she kissed the right guy -her true love- she'd know it."

"How would she know it?" Luna questioned.

"The desire to kiss him wouldn't go away, it would only get stronger. Basically, she'd have the best kiss of her life and she wouldn't want to kiss anyone else."

"Wow. I want to have the best kiss of my life." Sighed Parvati.

"What happened to the girl they played the trick on?" Katie asked.

"She married her professor after finishing her seventh year!" Pansy laughed. "Gran said that the trick was on them, because everything worked in her favor."

"That's lovely."

"Why don't you all come over for brunch in the morning. We can work on the potion and suffer our hangovers together."

"I would love to but we 'ave plans." Fleur told the group.

"Can everyone else make it?" Ginny asked. All of the girls nodded but she could tell that a few were going to be a little more difficult to convince. She just knew she was doing the right thing. She wanted her best friend to be happy and if she had her happy ending it would all be worth it. "Ok ladies, I know some of you aren't sure about this. Take tonight to try to come up with anything better. If you do then we'll scrap this plan and try something else. Agreed?" As they all nodded, Ginny ordered another round of drinks and conversation moved on.

Hermione flicked off the TV and sighed. She was tempted to go grab that gallon of ice cream that was calling to her from the freezer but now that she had her dress, she wanted to be able to fit into it. She wasn't sure why she was so down on herself tonight. She figured it was just Ginny bringing up her lack of dating possibilities that depressed her. Ginny hadn't been single since her fourth year at Hogwarts. She went from Michael to Dean to Harry with little time in between. Even after Harry broke up with her, she didn't consider herself single and rightly so. She and Harry had been together on and off since Voldemort was defeated. In their "off" periods, she usually found someone to date. They were currently "on" and Ginny was expecting an engagement ring. It all made Hermione want to vomit.

Her love life had gone from bad to worse. Her relationship with Ron was bad but her history after him was worse. She had been on more first dates than she thought possible. Nobody ever measured up to what she was looking for. Of course she knew what she was looking for and knew who that was. She had not even been on a date with him, and never would. She banged her head against the wall behind her in frustration and was surprised when the wall banged back. Coming to her senses she realized that it was her front door and it wasn't so much banging but knocking. Her wards only allowed a few people to get to her door so she waved her wand in an ultimate show of laziness and opened the door.

"Hey." Harry said as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He took one look at her old grey sweats, hair in a messy knot and the empty pizza box on the floor and realized she was having a bad night. "How's my girl?"

"Oh, just fine. What are you doing here? Why aren't you out on the town with Ginny?"

"She went out with some friends. I'm surprised you aren't with them."

"I wasn't invited. That's ok though, I had lots to do."

"Like eating frozen pizza and watching the telly?"

"Oh don't you start in about my social life, or lack thereof. I don't need to hear it from you. For your information, I could have gone out with any number of people tonight but I chose to stay in. It's been a busy week and I was tired."

"I'm just teasing Hermione. I'm sorry." He sat down on the couch next to her and sighed.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know. I just feel restless I suppose."

"You want another dark wizard to try and kill you?"

"Yeah, that would spice things up. Maybe I'll become a dark wizard myself. Want to be my second in command?"

"Sure. I just need to get a new wardrobe. I don't own enough black."

"Well, maybe another day, I'm not in the mood to go shopping."

"What's really bothering you Harry?"

"Oh, it's hard to put into words. I love my job but I find myself getting bored. With everything. I feel like something needs to change, I'm just not sure what. Plus I don't like change so it terrifies me."

"I know what you mean. We spent all those years working off of adrenalin and fear and then once the war was over it seemed that the euphoria only lasted a few years. Now that so much time has passed it's like we are just waiting around for the next adventure."

"Exactly! I knew you'd understand. Nobody else gets it. We need an adventure. I just want something to happen. Something wonderful and new and exciting."

"What about Ginny?"

"What about her?"

"You could propose, get married, start a family. That would be an adventure."

"Yes, that would be an adventure but I'm just not ready. Whenever I think about committing to her for life, I get a little nauseated. I want a family more than anything but I can't imagine it right now."

"Don't you love her?"

"Of course I do. I mean, we've been together for so long. She's basically the only girl I've been with so of course I love her. I just. . . I don't know."

"You'll know when you are ready Harry. Your heart will know." Hermione leaned her head against his shoulder as he adjusted to put his arm around her.

"Thank you. I truly don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'll never have to find out Harry. I'm always here." The two sat in silence for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts. Hermione was thinking of the only man she'd ever loved and how if he were to love her, it would be a wonderful adventure. Harry was thinking about how to break away from everything and start a new life. They both wanted changes but didn't know how to go about making them.


	2. Chapter 2

True Love chapter 2

**Disclaimer: JK owns all characters and rights to those characters. **

As Hermione read the newspapers, both muggle and wizard on Sunday morning she was quite unaware that her best female friends were plotting against her. They didn't think of it like that of course. Ginny insisted to the women that it was all in Hermione's best interest as they added the ingredients to the currently green potion.

"Really, what's the harm? Hermione is a grown woman. If she has a crush on someone she might has well kiss him and see if it's meant to be. It's a great way to meet guys. Plus she won't be randomly kissing strangers right? She'll only be kissing guys she's had crushes on." Ginny rationalized.

"Right." Agreed Pansy. "It also prevents her from kissing any married men so there won't be any marriages breaking up over this."

"What about guys who are already dating someone?" wondered Angelina. "What if she kisses George?"

"Technically the potion only protects men who are married, who are bonded. Dating someone doesn't prevent her from kissing him."

"Don't worry! It's not like she is going to find true love with one of our men! That's just silly. Hermione has more sense than that. I'm not worried." Ginny declared.

"Sure, we have nothing to worry about. If she kisses Blaise, I'll just know that it's the potion working and I won't be jealous. All right, we are almost done. Lavender, add the last ingredient and we should see the potion turn red." Pansy instructed.

Lavender added the final ingredient and the women stared at the potion. Sure enough it turned red. Ginny picked up the book with the instructions. "It says here that after 24 hours the potion will be pink and the effects will last for seven days. If we wait another 24 hours the potion will be purple and last for fourteen days. The next day it will be blue and finally clear. Apparently 28 days is the max. It's just a month to the ball so twenty-eight days will do it. It's Sunday so that means we need to get the potion in her on Thursday."

"How are we going to do that? We never discussed that much."

"No problem. I'll invite her to lunch on Thursday and slip it in her drink. Easy." Ginny was confident that it would work. She couldn't wait. She set the potion to stir automatically and adjusted the heat setting before going upstairs to have coffee and muffins.

()()()()()()()()()()()()(

"Thanks for having lunch with me Hermione." Ginny said as she slid into a chair at the Leaky Cauldron. "I think we should do this more often."

"Of course we should. We do see a lot of each other though, so it's not like we have to catch up." Hermione explained.

"No, it's not about catching up, it's about time to have girl talk. Speaking of girls, is that Pansy over there?" As Hermione looked behind her, Ginny carefully put the potion in her drink.

"Hey Pansy!" Hermione greeted her friend. "How are things?"

"Great. Wonderful. It's so good to see you both. It's been a while." Pansy was lying. She had just seen Ginny ten minutes ago when she picked up the potion.

"Do you want to join us?" Hermione offered.

"If you don't mind, I'd love to." Pansy gave Ginny a wink and sat at the table.

"Let's have a toast. To girl talk!" Ginny announced. Three glasses were raised and all had a drink. Ginny didn't want to keep staring at Hermione but both she and Pansy were waiting for some sort of reaction. When Hermione didn't complain about the taste of her drink, they knew all was well. The three friends had a good lunch and were just about to leave when Harry and Ron came into the pub.

"Hey ladies!" Ron greeted.

"Hi everyone," said Harry.

At that point Hermione started feeling very warm. She felt an overwhelming need to kiss both Ron and Harry. She had no idea where that came from. It was completely out of character. She was very good at repressing all urges. She could feel the beads of sweat prickle on her forehead and she started feeling nauseated and feverish.

"Hermione? Are you all right?" Harry had noticed her apparent distress.

"I don't think my lunch agreed with me. I need to get some fresh air. Excuse me. . . " Hermione grabbed her purse and headed for the door bumping into Ron in her haste. At the point of contact, Hermione couldn't take it any more and pulled Ron's face to hers in a searing kiss. Ron struggled against her and kept his lips shut tight, not at all sure what was going on. He was a bit afraid of catching whatever was making her look so ill. Hermione broke away, clasped her hands to her face in horror and ran out of the pub.

"What the bloody hell?" Ron asked.

"I don't know mate. I thought you two were long over." Harry said, confusion clear on his face.

"We are. I don't get it." Ron was still confused as he looked at his sister and Pansy in fits of giggles. "What's going on girls?"

"Nothing. Your expression, it was funny." Ginny laughed.

"Right. You looked terrified Ron. I hope you don't look that way when Luna kisses you." Pansy added. "I've got to go, walk me out Gin?"

"Sure, I've got to be going too. See you Ron. Bye Harry love." Ginny stood up to give Harry a quick kiss and headed out after Pansy.

"Women are weird." Ron said as he finished off Ginny's sandwich.

Pansy and Ginny hurried into Diagon Alley. At Hermione's look of horror Ginny had realized her mistake. She should have told Hermione what they had done so she would at least be prepared. Hermione hated being put on the spot and humiliated. She was instantly regretting doing this to her. They found Hermione sitting on a bench, gasping for air, tears rolling down her face.

"I'm so sorry Hermione." Ginny said, sitting down next to her friend.

"We both are. We did something to you that we thought would be a good thing but now we know it was wrong." Pansy sat down on Hermione's other side.

"What did you do? Something is not right with me and I want to know what it is! I just kissed Ron! I broke up with him years ago, he's happy with Luna! What did you do?"

"It's just a little potion. Nothing harmful." Ginny explained.

"A potion? You gave me a potion? You can't do something like that Ginny! It's illegal, immoral and just so wrong!" Hermione was both sobbing and shrieking at the same time. She hated being out of control. "What kind of potion is it?"

"It's a true love potion Hermione." Pansy began. "It gives you the compulsion to kiss any guy that you've ever had a crush on. Once you kiss him, the compulsion goes away but when you kiss your true love, you'll know it. You'll want to continue kissing him. You won't want to kiss Ron again. He's out of your system."

"Thank Merlin for small favors," muttered Hermione. "I can't believe you would do this to me. I thought you were my friends." The tears were falling down her face. She couldn't understand how her friends could publicly humiliate her and be so cruel.

"We are so sorry. All I could think about was you ultimately finding happiness. Now I wish I had stopped and thought for a little longer. I really did have your best interest at heart."

"I'm sure you did, but that doesn't change how this makes me feel. I'm angry and embarrassed. I don't know how I'm going to explain to Luna why I kissed her boyfriend. She'll hate me." Hermione hiccuped.

"She knows about the potion." Pansy explained. "All of your girl friends do. We made it together."

"All of them? They all agreed to this? Who are we talking about here?"

"Me and Ginny obviously, Luna, Lavender, Parvati, Padma, Katie, Alicia, Angelina, and Fleur. Fleur didn't help with the potion but she was there when we discussed it."

"Oh no, not Fleur! I had a crush on Bill! I can't kiss him!"

"You won't have to kiss anyone who is already married, the potion is geared not to break up marriages."

"How long will this last?"

"28 days." Pansy muttered.

"There is good news!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Sobbed Hermione.

"You know that Ron isn't your true love."

"Yes, that's very helpful Ginny. You've just ruined my next 28 days, and possibly the rest of my life. I will never be able to live this down. I'm a normal woman who has had lots of crushes and attractions to guys. Do you realize who I might have to kiss? For the first time in my life I am very glad that certain people are dead."

"Like Professor Snape?" Ginny asked.

"Exactly. Wait! How did you know about him?"

"We all would have had to kiss him." Pansy laughed.

"Oh God. This isn't good. I'm going back to work where I will probably get fired for sexual harassment. I'm very glad most of my co-workers are married or female. I still can't believe you would do this to me. I'm not forgiving you. Ever!" Hermione stormed away from the girls and headed back to the ministry.

"Well, she'll forgive us eventually. She'll need bridesmaids for her wedding." Pansy was regretting suggesting the potion in the first place and now just had to hope things would work out.

"Right. Sure, things will be fine. I'm going to go explain to Ron. See you later Pansy."

Ginny stepped back into the Leaky Cauldron to find her boyfriend and her brother stuffing themselves and talking with their mouths full. Harry had definitely picked up some bad habits after spending so much time with Ron over the years.

"Did you eat my sandwich?" She asked her brother.

"Well you left it."

"Fine, but you are paying for it. Look Ron I have to explain what happened with Hermione."

"She wants me." Ron boasted.

"She really doesn't. _At all._ Look, I did something stupid. All the girls and I planned it but I shouldn't have gone through with it."

"What did you do Ginny?" Harry asked, a coldness in his voice.

Ginny looked at Harry with a worried expression, not liking the tone his voice took. "I slipped her a potion that causes her to kiss all the guys that she's had crushes on currently and in the past. It's a true love potion. Once she kisses her true love, she won't want to kiss anyone else."

"So every time she sees me she'll want to kiss me? Luna won't like that."

"No, once she's kissed you she won't do it again. Unless of course you were her true love. Which you aren't. Obviously."

"I could be." Ron insisted.

"You're not. Trust me."

"So how long does this potion last?" Harry asked.

"28 days. It will end the day after the ball. My goal of course was to get her a date for the ball, but a perfect date. Her true love."

"She didn't want a date to the ball, she told me herself." Harry argued.

"No girl wants to go to the ball by herself."

"I can't believe you'd do this to your best friend." Harry stood up, picked up his jacket and quickly left the pub. He was angry at Ginny but he found himself also angry at Hermione. He wondered why she hadn't kissed him. Had she never been attracted to him? He knew he wasn't as good looking as some of his friends but he figured there had to be some sort of attraction at one point in their friendship. He had a hard time admitting to himself how much it hurt.

Hermione walked into the ministry hoping to avoid eye contact with everyone. There were several reasons why she shouldn't have come back to work. First of all she had been crying and knew that her nose was probably red and there was a chance she had a little mascara running down her face. Second, she was angry and didn't want to make small talk with any of her co-workers. Third, she may have had the occasional attraction to several of the guys she passed on a daily basis. She was almost successful. Her office was directly in front of her and she only had about twenty feet to walk. She could shut the door and do her job. She'd stay late and leave after everyone had gone. She'd call in sick for the next month and never leave her house. No problem whatsoever. Until she heard a voice.

"Hermione!"

Hermione's stomach flipped over as she recognized Kingsley's voice. Of course she was attracted to him. His regal stature and booming voice made her toes curl. He wasn't her true love, she knew that but she also knew that she would definitely want to kiss him, thanks to this potion. Trying to avoid eye contact, she motioned him to follow her into her office. After shutting the door she looked him in the eye. Sure enough, her body started warming up and all she could think about was his lips.

"Please forgive me and let me explain in a moment." Hermione told him as she reached behind his neck and dragged his lips down to meet hers. Kingsley stood stock still, not sure why his employee who he was rather fond of -but like a daughter - would be kissing him.

"Ok, good. That's over then." Hermione said as she wiped her lips off with her sleeve and handed Kingsley a tissue. She looked at him again and saw that he was in shock. "I'm very sorry."

"Hermione? You know I have always been very fond of you but I've always thought of you more as a daughter, nothing more." He said, clearing his throat.

"Oh, no, I'm not looking for a relationship or anything, I've just been given a potion that makes me kiss anyone I've ever been attracted to. You know, no big deal." She gave a nervous laugh.

"You're attracted to me?"

"You are an attractive man. I've always admired how you carry yourself. Don't worry, it's all innocent."

"So how long does this potion last?"

"A month. Do you think I could take a few weeks off? You know, to avoid several people so I don't humiliate myself anymore."

"No, you may not have a month off. What kind of ridiculous potion is this? Is this dark magic? Do I need to get Potter and Weasley on this?"

"Well, Ron Weasley was my first victim unfortunately. It was my so-called friends Minister. They are trying to help me find my true love."

"I see. Interesting. Well, you will just have to deal with things. You can't hide forever. Besides, it's too busy around here and you already have a few days off before the ball. I can't afford to give you anymore time right now."

"Well it was worth a try."

"Indeed. Goodbye Hermione." He chuckled as he left her office. It was going to be a very interesting few weeks. He couldn't help but be a bit flattered and he stuck his chest out as he walked back to his office, completely forgetting why he had wanted to talk to her in the first place.

Hermione decided the best course of action for her was to sit on her private toilet and cry some more. Kingsley had handled it well, had almost seemed amused. Damn him! Of course everyone was going to think it was funny. If word got out she was sure to have people watching her every move, trying to see if she was going to kiss someone else. She found no humor in it whatsoever. She was just glad that her initial reaction with the nausea and sweating didn't happen again. Maybe she _had_ eaten something funny.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just enjoy playing a bit. **

**  
Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews! I hope you are enjoying this silly little story. **

Hermione fell onto her bed exhausted with a terrible headache. She had probably just had the worst day of her life. It was possible that the day of the battle when she saw many of her friends die was actually the worst day of her life, but this came a close second. Well, maybe being almost killed in the ministry was worse. Being tortured at Malfoy Manor was no fun either. Ok, so it really didn't compare with some of her other horrible days but all in all, it wasn't good. Kissing Ron and Kingsley had been bad on day one of what she now thought of as a curse but at least they were her friends and understood. Running up to the security guard that had always flirted with her and sticking her tongue down his throat was a pretty horrible experience on day two; especially since he had apparently eaten onions for lunch.

Day three and four were easy. It was the weekend and that meant she didn't have to leave the house. With a few extra wards, nobody could get in either. Ginny had tried. Lavender had tried. Pansy had tried. She had kept everyone out with claims of a violent stomach flu. Molly had flooed out of concern once word got back of her "illness" but Hermione refused her chicken soup claiming to be too ill to eat. Harry and Ron had tried to come over and truthfully she had made plans with them before this whole mess so they had every right, but she kept them out as well. She just didn't want to see anybody.

The events of day five were currently making her head feel like her brain was loose and bouncing around. If she just kept her head still she might be able to survive the night. Unfortunately she was still dressed, hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and hadn't brushed her teeth. She could not go to sleep without at least brushing her teeth. She decided to just lay there a little longer waiting for her brain to re-attach before tackling the violent task of teeth brushing.

Her day had started out fine. She had been so successful at being a hermit over the weekend that she had almost forgot about her problems. Walking through the atrium in the Ministry, she remembered to keep her eyes down and to avoid eye contact. That method seemed to work the best. She found that eye contact was what brought on the heat and the irresistible urge. She had made it to the lift and was heading to her floor when Draco Malfoy stepped in. She knew it was him, even without looking. She could smell his expensive cologne and recognized the designer shoes.

"Granger." He drawled in greeting.

"Malfoy." She responded, not wanting to be rude, even to one of the few people she genuinely despised. To give him credit, he had made a point of not insulting her over the last several years. She hadn't heard him call her mudblood or any other derogatory term in a while; in fact he had been downright nice to her at times. That was probably why she had, on a few occasions, found him slightly, just barely, a little bit attractive. Well he was more than attractive. His classic good looks and those amazing grey eyes were definitely worth swooning over. She, however was not one to swoon and her dislike and distrust of him prevented even the urge. She had admired him from afar as had many other women she was sure. Because of all of this, she refused to even look at his feet anymore, studying hers instead. She'd have to fix that scuff on the left side when she got into her office.

"I need to talk to you about some contracts. Could we set up a meeting this afternoon at three?" He asked, silently wondering why she was so interested in her shoes.

"I don't think that would work for me. I'm very, very busy. Maybe you could send it through messenger along with any questions you might have." The lift opened, the voice told her it was her floor and she started to walk out. Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her arm and stop her. If eye-contact was one way to activate her curse, touching was much, much more powerful. She gasped as she turned to look into those eyes.

"I would really rather. . . " he started to say before Hermione's arms wrapped around his neck and her lips were on his. Not one to turn down a good kiss, Draco happily kissed her back. He knew she wanted him. Heck, every woman wanted him. He was a god among men, an Adonis, a Casanova, a Lancelot, a Don Juan. His overly egotistical thoughts were ripped from his head as Hermione stepped away, a look of utter horror on her face.

"Three would be fine. See you then." She muttered as she ran into her office. She slammed the door behind her and stood against it, her chest heaving and her lips burning. She had just kissed her childhood enemy. She had kissed Malfoy! The man who stood against everything she believed in had kissed her back. The worst thing was, she kind of liked it. It killed her to admit that Draco Malfoy was a good kisser. The man knew what he was doing with his tongue. As the traitorous part of her brain considered that, the prim and proper part of her brain was trying to beat the other with a figurative stick. She should not know what Draco's tongue was like. Her only relief was that she knew he wasn't her true love. She wouldn't be kissing him again even if she did still feel a tingle running down towards her toes.

She allowed herself to calm down and got right to work. She had several things to go over and was glad for the distraction. At some point she grew hungry and made the mistake of leaving her office. She noticed that many of the women were shooting daggers at her. Remembering that she was not supposed to be looking anyone in the eye, she looked back at her feet and headed for the dining hall. Her plan was to buy her lunch quickly and eat in the solitude of her office.

"So, when did you two start dating?" Melissa asked, falling in step with her.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Hermione huffed. Melissa was a new employee and a potential friend. She might need new female friends after she killed all her others.

"I'm talking about you and Draco. We all saw you kiss him."

"Yes, well that was a joke. I am not dating Malfoy. I hate Malfoy."

"That was some kiss. Everyone is talking about it. You've got some women pretty angry at you."

"Well you can assure them that there is nothing going on between us. I have hated him from the day I met him and today isn't any different." They walked into the dining hall and Hermione went up to the counter to grab a sandwich. She started feeling a bit nauseous all of a sudden and thought it probably had to do with the weird cafeteria smells.

"Look, there's Harry Potter. He's so gorgeous." Melissa sighed.

Hermione froze. She couldn't possibly run into Harry in the middle of the dining hall. She didn't need another kissing scene today. She didn't dare look in his direction but it didn't seem to matter, she started sweating, felt weak and was very warm. "I'm going to be sick." She told Melissa as she covered her mouth and ran out the back way to the nearest restrooms. She then proceeded to lose her lunch, even though she hadn't eaten anything.

Coming out of the stall a few minutes later, she threw some water on her face and washed her hands. She noticed that a few women were giving her a strange look, they obviously didn't appreciate hearing her retch. They were probably on their way to lunch and she had ruined it for them.

"Are you all right?" asked a woman who Hermione recognized but didn't know.

"Yes, thank you. I think I ate something bad."

"You didn't eat though. I saw you run out of the dining hall and you hadn't even paid for your lunch."

"It must have been breakfast. Maybe my milk was expired." She really didn't want to explain and truthfully she didn't even have an explanation. "I'd better get back to my office."

"Feel better." Yelled the woman as Hermione hurried out the door.

Harry had just turned Hermione's way when he saw her run out the back door with her hand over her mouth. He walked over to Melissa who had a bad habit of giggling whenever he was around. He really didn't want to talk to her but he had to check on Hermione.

"Hi Melissa."

"Oh! Hi Harry! You are looking nice today!" Her voice was high pitched and sure enough she started giggling.

"I saw you with Hermione, is she all right?"

"Hermione? Oh right, yeah, she said she was sick and ran out."

"Do you know what's wrong?"

"No." She started to say more but ended up giggling and watching Harry walk away.

Harry went to Hermione's office only to find it empty. He then went back to the dining hall thinking she might have come back. Ron came in at that point and Harry decided to grab some food and eat with his friend. He could look for Hermione after he ate. They were eating in peaceful silence while conversations were buzzing around them.

"Did you hear?"

"Hear what"

"About Hermione Granger?"

At the mention of Hermione's name, both Harry and Ron stopped chewing and turned their ears toward the conversation going on at the next table.

"She's pregnant!"

"What?"

"She has horrible morning sickness, I just heard her getting sick in the bathroom."

"Who's the father?"

"Draco Malfoy!"

"Seriously?"

"Yes! They were snogging by the lifts this morning. They were all over each other."

Harry and Ron were both frozen as the gossip reached their ears. The fork Harry was holding was starting to bend as his fist clenched around it. There was no possible way that Hermione could be pregnant, and definitely not with Malfoy.

"It isn't true." Harry told a shocked Ron. "It can't be true." Harry now felt nauseous himself and headed back to his office to process what he had just heard. It had to be a rumor. She wouldn't do that to him.

The gossip continued around the ministry, each re-telling making the story larger and more sordid. By the time it got to Draco it had been blown all out of proportion.

"Congratulations Mate!" Blaise patted Draco on the back and started laughing.

"Congratulations on what?"

"On getting Granger preggars!"

"Granger is pregnant?"

"You didn't know? I thought the father would know."

"You think I'm the father?" Draco sputtered.

"That's what I heard."

"Tell me everything you heard." Draco demanded, his feelings alternated between amusement over Granger being the topic of gossip, anger that he was involved in the gossip and curiosity as to what the gossip really entailed.

"From what I heard, you and Hermione have been secretly dating for a while. Someone saw you shagging in one of the empty conference rooms down in the Department of Mysteries and there were several witnesses to you snogging each other senseless this morning. Apparently Hermione has been sick every morning and after losing her lunch today she apparently confessed to being pregnant with twins. Your twins to be exact." Blaise smiled at his friend, knowing full well that none of it was true. He did hear about the snogging session from several people though so he wondered if that did in fact happen.

"You know it's not true right?" Draco asked, his face heating up from embarrassment.

"Of course it's not true. I just think it's bloody hilarious. You've got some damage control to do. You could come out as gay and put the rumors to rest."

"I'm not gay! I don't need to stop one set of lies with another. I have a meeting with Granger in just a few minutes, I'll get to the bottom of it."

()()()()()()()()

Hermione looked at the clock. Draco would be coming for his meeting soon and then she could leave. There were plenty of people who knew she got sick today so she wouldn't have to make many excuses. She never did get to eat any lunch so she was feeling grumpier than usual. At exactly three o'clock there was a knock on her door.

"Come in." She called, praying it was Draco and not some other former crush of hers.

"Granger." Draco greeted as he closed the door behind him.

"Malfoy. What can I do for you?"

Draco figured she hadn't heard the news so he thought that before he got into that he should actually get some business done. He handed her the contracts he was working on and went over the list of questions that had come up. Hermione was good at her job and knew the law backwards and forwards. About an hour later the contracts were settled and Draco decided to bring up the kiss.

"Do you want to explain what this morning was all about? Not that I'm not happy to be kissing a beautiful woman, but I don't think a relationship between us could work."

"You think I'm beautiful?" Hermione asked stupidly. At his nod, she blushed and told him about the potion.

"So you really let the little Weasel and Parkinson give you a potion?" He asked with a laugh.

"No, I didn't let them, they just did. It's not funny you know."

"Yeah, it really is. I'm going to have to thank Ginny for this bit of entertainment."

"I hate being the butt of a joke Draco."

"Well how about the key figure in a tasty bit of gossip that's going around?"

"What gossip?" Hermione looked at him sharply. Surely he hadn't told anyone about her kissing him.

"Well, apparently we've been shagging all over the Ministry, in addition of course to snogging by the lifts. You are currently pregnant with twins although the latest news has me being only the father of one of them, the other father is unknown but rumored to have red hair."

Hermione sat in her chair, mouth open and knuckles white. She attempted to say something but only squeaked.

"I assume you are not the one who started this rumor?"

Hermione shook her head no in reply.

"Are you pregnant?"

Another shake of the head.

"Shag anyone in a conference room?"

She finally got her voice, "No!"

"Well, we'll have to figure out a solution to our problem then."

"Why are you being nice to me?" Hermione finally asked. "You could be gloating and telling the world about my unfortunate situation."

"Well as I am no longer the bastard I once was, I don't necessarily want to embarrass people that could potentially be my friends. Besides, I'm the father of at least one of your unborn children so I should treat you better."

Hermione laughed despite her situation. "You think we could be friends?"

"We have several friends in common so I don't think that a friendship in the future is unreasonable. Now, I need to get back to my office and I'm guessing that the fact that we've been shut up alone in your office for over an hour has led to quite an audience outside. I suggest that we just let it go for now, let people talk and maybe you should wear something tight and sexy that clearly shows you are not pregnant. I'll talk to you later." Draco didn't give Hermione a chance to respond and headed out the door. She sat in silence trying to figure out how in the world she would be able to ignore these rumors while avoiding people starting new ones. She was startled out of her thoughts by a banging on the door.

"Hermione! It's me Ron, let me in!"

"Are you alone?"

"Yes." At his answer, Hermione let Ron enter and closed the door behind him.

"Is it true?" Ron demanded. "I just saw him leave your office."

"Do you really believe that gossip Ronald? You know me better than that."

"Do I? Roger told Mark that he saw you shagging in the broom closet in the auror department. Are you having Draco Malfoy's babies?"

It was at this point that her head started to throb. "Ronald Weasley, you know better than to believe stupid gossip about people. Of course I'm not pregnant and I have never shagged anyone in any broom closet in the bloody Ministry." As she yelled she grabbed her cloak and purse and headed for the door.

"I knew it couldn't be true. You haven't even had a date in a year."

Hermione stopped in the open doorway and looked at her now former best friend. She was losing friends fast. She might need to take Draco up on his offer of friendship. "Is it that hard to believe that I could have a relationship with someone? Is it that hard to believe that someone might want to shag me? Maybe I am pregnant, you don't know what I do with my private time." She stomped her foot and headed for the lifts. Just as the doors to the lift were about to close, she saw Harry running towards her yelling her name. If the doors hadn't closed, when they did she would have made the biggest mistake of her life. As it was, she was sick again and stumbled into the atrium, promptly vomiting in a potted plant. It definitely added some kindling to the gossip fire. She ran quickly to the nearest floo and went straight home.

In one day she had kissed Draco Malfoy, fought with Ron, been the victim of a vicious rumor, was apparently pregnant -by immaculate conception no less- and had thrown up every time she saw Harry. That was why she was currently laying on her bed, waiting for her brain to stop bouncing and thinking about taking a long vacation to somewhere far, far away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own it but if I did I'd be a happy woman. **

_Yuck_, Hermione thought as she woke up from a very deep sleep. She had never made it in to brush her teeth and she hated that feeling. She slowly moved her head and was pleased to find that her brain did not appear to be bouncing around anymore. She was still in her clothes, on top of the covers and she was starving. It was only four in the morning but she knew she'd slept enough and looked forward to taking a relaxing shower, eating a huge breakfast and of course brushing her teeth.

During her shower she decided to owl in sick for work. She had a good excuse; everyone knew she had been sick. She really wished that they thought she had the flu but if they wanted to think she was pregnant, there wasn't much she could do about it yet. If nothing else they'd figure it out in nine months. She settled in for a lazy day at home, hoping that people would just forget she existed for the next twenty-two days. Around ten in the morning she was startled out of her reading by her cell phone ringing. She hated the thing but her parents insisted on being able to contact her.

"Hello?" She answered, not recognizing the caller I.D.

"I have been trying to get a hold of you since yesterday!" Harry yelled at her. "Are you alive? Sick? Kidnapped? Pregnant with Malfoy's triplets?"

"Harry, calm down. I'm fine, just a touch of the stomach flu." She sighed. "Triplets?"

"That's the latest news. Tell me you aren't pregnant."

"Of course not. You have to have sex to be pregnant." She said, turning red at saying the word sex out loud.

"And you haven't had. . . um sex?" Harry sounded a bit nervous as well.

"Not recently." She said dryly. "It's been a bad couple of years."

"Right. Well, I'm glad to hear it."

"You are glad that I haven't had sex?"

"Yes! I mean, no. What I'm trying to say is that I'm glad that you aren't pregnant. Have you been avoiding me?"

"Avoiding you? No! I've just been busy and not feeling well." She hated lying to Harry but knew she couldn't tell him the truth.

"Everything is all right between us?"

"Nothing has changed. You are still my best friend. Why are you calling me on my cell? You usually floo or owl."

"I tried to floo but your connection is closed."

"Oh right, I forgot to open it up again. I closed it to avoid Ginny and my other ex-friends last weekend."

"I'm sorry for what they did. Sometimes Ginny just doesn't think. How is the kissing going?"

"Oh, just great. So far I've kissed my ex-boyfriend, a security guard, the Minister of Magic, and my childhood enemy. The security guard sent me flowers."

"No true love yet?" Harry asked with just a tinge of hope in his voice.

"No. All of this torture they are putting me through is not going to end with me getting my true love. It's not going to happen."

"It might." Harry said quietly.

"No. It won't."

"Do you want to have dinner tonight and go over the plans for the ball?"

Hermione panicked. She couldn't be face to face with Harry. She'd kiss him and her life as she knew it would be over. She knew it would ruin her friendship if she were to kiss him. She couldn't lose her best friend. "I can't Harry. I'm really not feeling well. Maybe you can owl me the plans?"

"I could bring them over."

"NO! I mean, it's not a good idea, I might be contagious."

"Oh, all right. Well, I'll let you rest. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks Harry. I'll talk to you soon."

After hanging up, she flopped back on the couch. At least the sound of his voice didn't make her sick. It made her a little warm and tingly but that was nothing new. With a flick of her wand she opened up her floo connection, figuring that someone at work might need her. Sure enough, within the hour she heard Kingsley's voice booming from her fireplace.

"Hermione Granger! I need to talk to you!"

"Hello Minister," she mumbled, trying to sound quite ill.

"Why aren't you at work?"

"I have the flu. I was sick at work yesterday."

"Yes, I heard. The plant that you chose to vomit on threw a temper tantrum and we had to bring in Longbottom to settle it down."

"I'm sorry. I'll apologize to it when I come back to work."

"That would be tomorrow Miss Granger."

"If I'm up to it. . . "

"No! You will be up to it. You will be at work tomorrow. I am quite aware of the rumors and obviously know first hand of your little problem. I suggest you just face it and move on. You can't hide. As much as I care about you Hermione, you still need to come to work. We need you."

"Of course. I'll be there." Hermione sighed as sat back after saying goodbye. Kingsley was right, she had to face her problems. Maybe she should just walk through every department and kiss everyone just to get it out of her system. She could set up a booth and just have guys queue up to kiss her. Not a bad idea, except that guys had never queued up to kiss her before. It would be a very short queue.

Hermione spent the rest of the day feeling sorry for herself. She really hoped she could use the illness excuse for at least a few more days. She did manage to come up with several questions about the potion and figured she might as well use her short bit of free time to get some answers. She leaned into the fireplace and in a moment her face was in Pansy's kitchen.

"Pansy? Are you home?"

"Hermione? Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry for everything." Pansy said kneeling down to talk to your friend.

"I have some questions, could I come over?"

"Of course, come on in. I should warn you that Ginny is here though."

"That's fine. I have some questions for you both."

Hermione flooed over and stepped out of Pansy's fireplace a few minutes later. Ginny was very nervous and both girls apologized over and over again. Hermione was determined to get answers before deciding which method of revenge would be the best for them. They sat down with tea and Hermione tried very hard to be calm. She asked question after question, about ingredients used, brewing methods, and possible side affects.

"Is nausea a side affect?" She asked.

"Not that I know of. There was nothing in Grandmother's notes about nausea. Blaise told me you've been sick." Pansy answered.

"I've had a few ill moments yes."

"I'll look into it a little further."

"Thank you Pansy. I'd love to copy down the ingredients so I can do some research on my own. I'm hoping there's an antidote."

"I don't know of one, but of course I'll get the book for you." Pansy left the room to retrieve the spell book and with a few waves of Hermione's wand, she had a complete copy of the potion as well as all the notes that Pansy's grandmother had made.

"The other question I have is about the actual kissing. What if I kiss my true love but he doesn't love me back. Will I just want to kiss him forever even if he doesn't return my feelings?"

"Do you know who your true love is?" Ginny asked hopefully.

Hermione just blushed. "Can you answer my question?" She looked at Pansy.

"Right. Well according to the notes, true love goes both ways. If he doesn't feel the same way then he's not your true love."

"So if I kiss the guy that I like, but he doesn't like me back, then it's over? I won't want to kiss him again?"

"If he doesn't like you back, you won't feel the power of the kiss, he won't be your true love." Pansy answered.

"So you do like someone!" Ginny squealed, clapping her hands.

"Thank you for answering my questions. I'm going to go now." Hermione stood up and grabbed her purse.

"Hermione, please wait!" cried Ginny. "I need you to be my friend."

Hermione sighed. She turned back towards the women. "I need you to be my friend too Ginny. Right now you aren't. I'm sure you will be again, you too Pansy, but I'm still hurt. You have no idea what you've really done. You may have ruined several friendships over one stupid plan. I'm having to avoid some of the most important people in my life because of this. I'm not ready to be over it, I still have twenty-two days of this. Goodbye." With that, she headed home.

()()()()()()()()()

Hermione managed to get through day seven without kissing anyone thanks to keeping her eyes down, bringing her own lunch, and never leaving her office. She once again thanked Merlin for having a private bathroom. She kept her door locked and transfigured a button into a peep hole so she could see who was knocking. The security guard sent her more flowers.

Draco had stopped by and let her know that he had put a stop to all rumors going around and people were back to thinking she just had the flu. Hermione was quite surprised at his support, but after all he did have a reputation to consider as well. Kingsley had come to check on her and made it clear that she was not to take anymore time off until right before the ball. She coughed a little for good measure so he wouldn't think she was completely faking her "illness". Ron stopped by to apologize for losing his temper. Harry tried to stop by but when she realized it was him, she hid in the bathroom until he went away.

Day eight went much the same at work. She kept to herself, kept busy and kept all lips away from her. After work she headed into Diagon Alley to run errands that she'd put off while hiding away. She went into Gringotts first where she ran into Bill. He invited her to dinner with him and Fleur, Angelina, George and Lee that night. The desire to be with friends overcame her fear of kissing and she agreed. She did need to do some damage control first. She headed over to George's shop.

Walking into the familiar store, she was pulled into a fierce hug by Angelina. "I'm so sorry, so very sorry!" She cried.

Hermione pulled back and looked at her crying friend. "It's all right, I'm not blaming you. I hold Ginny and Pansy fully to blame."

"But we were there, we could have stopped them."

"No you couldn't. They were set on it. You know how Ginny gets. I am going to be joining all of you for dinner tonight if that's all right. Bill invited me."

"That's wonderful! I'm glad he did." She was just about to ask how Hermione was getting along when George came out of the back room.

"Angelina, I'm going to owe you an apology in a moment." Hermione told her as she stalked up to George. "Let's get this over with." She said as she jumped into his arms. George stood there, looking at his girlfriend while trying to hold Hermione up. Finally she removed her lips and he put her down on the ground. "Hi George." She smiled and started laughing then, shaking and holding her stomach. "I'm sorry for laughing but all of a sudden this is all just very funny. Angelina, I'm sorry I kissed your boyfriend, George, I'm sorry for attacking you. I really need to sit down."

Angelina explained about the potion to a still silent and shocked George. Upon hearing the whole story, he joined Hermione in her laughter.

"So am I your true love?"

"Sorry George, you are not."

"That's good because I already found mine." George pulled Angelina in for a soft kiss. They talked for a few more minutes when George noticed Harry coming towards the shop.

"Here comes Harry."

"Oh no!" Hermione muttered, looking out the window. As soon as she saw him the nausea immediately returned. "I need to use your restroom. Don't tell him I'm here!" She ran into the back, one hand clenched over her mouth and the other around her stomach. Angelina followed her in the back to make sure she was all right.

"Hermione? Sweetie? Are you sick?"

"Is he gone?"

"You mean Harry? No, he's out front with George. Can I come in?" Hermione opened the door only enough for Angelina to squeeze through and then locked it behind her. "I'm sorry, I've had a touch of the flu."

"You were fine until you saw Harry."

"Yeah, it comes on suddenly like that."

"Does Harry have anything to do with it?"

"Don't be silly, why would my best friend be making me sick? I'm fine now, but I don't want to see Harry so can I stay here until he's gone?"

"Why don't you want to see him?"

"I haven't kissed him yet and I don't want to. I don't want anything to ruin our friendship. It will be too weird to kiss my best friend." Angelina left her alone then, heading back out to see if the coast was clear. Their conversation had put several questions in Angelina's mind. She only hoped she was wrong.

()()()()()()()()

Hermione arrived at the restaurant to find Lee waiting outside for her. Oh well, she though, best to get this out of the way now. Her body was heating up in that familiar way and at Lee's smile, she lost it. What she didn't expect was that he was ready for her and expecting her to kiss him. He opened up his arms to her and kissed her right back, enjoying it thoroughly. She had always thought Lee was a great guy. He was the voice of reason for the twins and when he started his wireless program in support of Harry, her respect for him grew tenfold. Now that she was kissing him, she thought she definitely should have spent more time with him.

"Wow. Um hi Lee." She gasped.

"Hi Hermione." He smirked. "George warned me I might be kissed. I wasn't sure of course but I am flattered that you found me attractive."

"You're a good guy Lee." Hermione laughed.

"So I'm not your true love either huh?"

"No, I'm afraid you aren't. Sorry."

"No problem, I'll cancel the wedding plans." He offered Hermione his arm and they went into the restaurant to join their friends.

Hermione sat down between George and Lee and immediately George put his arm around her.

"So Hermione, are you going to marry my best friend?" He asked with a wink.

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Really?" George looked surprised. "I thought you and Lee. . . well I thought he might be your true love."

"Unfortunately not. It would make my life much easier but Lee is not my true love."

At one point during their dinner, Fleur left to use the restroom. Bill took that chance to put Hermione on the spot.

"So Hermione. . . If I weren't married to my wonderful wife, would you have had to kiss me?"

Hermione blushed. "Maybe."

"That's not an answer Hermione." George pointed out.

"Yes, of course I would have had to kiss you. You Weasleys are all very good looking and with the exception of Percy and Ginny, I've had mild crushes on all of you. Are you happy now?"

"Yes, thank you." Bill couldn't help but smile. "I really do hope you find your true love Hermione," he added as his wife came back to the table.

"I don't think it's possible." Hermione whispered as she looked down at her hands. Desperate to change the subject she asked George about his new products and the conversation started flowing again.

By the time Hermione got home, she had to admit that she felt better than she had in days. Just spending time with people who loved and cared for her without the pressure from the potion helped ease her worry. She realized that she could get through this. All she needed was to find a way to avoid one certain person. If she could avoid him, she would be all right.

**Author's Note: I know many of you are figuring out where I'm going with this but I am still trying to be a bit vague. All will be revealed in a few chapters. Thanks so much for the reviews, I hope you are enjoying this story. Every review is a little gift really. I know that sounds sappy but it's true. Thanks. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own it, I can't take credit for the characters.**

Ginny stepped out of Harry's fireplace, her arms loaded with bags of groceries on Friday night. She had high hopes for a romantic dinner with him and really wanted to push the idea of getting engaged. She wanted a ring on her finger, and she didn't want to wait any longer. She quickly noticed that his robe was hanging over the sofa and there was noise coming from upstairs.

"Harry? Are you home?" Ginny called out.

"I'm in the bedroom."

Ginny put the groceries in the kitchen and headed upstairs to Harry's room. "What are you doing home so early?" She asked as she moved to kiss him. He was distracted and went back towards his closet, barely noticing her attempt at affection.

"I had to come and pack. I'm leaving for New York in a couple of hours." Harry said, gathering his clothes and throwing them in his bag.

"New York? What do you mean you are going to New York?" Ginny shrieked, knowing her plans for the night were ruined.

"I am going to be working with the Auror department at the American Ministry for the next couple of weeks."

"When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?" Ginny was almost hysterical now. "Are you leaving for good?"

"Gin, calm down. Please, you are overreacting. Kingsley asked me to go today, I would have told you but I haven't had a chance and I'm only going to be gone for a little over two weeks." Harry had finally stopped and looked at his crying girlfriend. "Why are you so upset? It's not a big deal. I probably should have told you right away but I was going to head to your place next. I promise, I would have said goodbye. I apologize." He walked over towards her and wiped her tears away.

"I planned a big dinner for us tonight and now you are leaving and I thought that you would. . . Never mind." She sniffled back her tears. "I don't want you to go. Tell Kingsley that you can't go and have him send Ron. I need you!"

"What has come over you? We've been apart before Ginny and I always come back." _Every single bloody time_, thought Harry.

"You're right. I'm being silly. Maybe while you are gone, I could move my things over and then when you get back, we could make this more permanent. Maybe you could visit some jewelry stores while you are in New York." Ginny was trying to make the best of the situation and was not very subtle in her hints.

"What? No. We've talked about this Gin. I don't think it's a good idea for us to live together just yet, and if I decide to get you a ring, I'll do it in my own time."

"We've been together for nearly eight years! I don't understand your hesitation."

"It's not hesitation, I just don't want to live with you right now or make that kind of commitment."

"Eight years Harry! Eight years! Do I have to wait eight more?"

"If you recall, we've been apart more than half of those eight years Ginevra. We've been off and on so much that half the time I forget what our current status is."

"Harry, don't you do this. Don't you get all moody and distant again. I hate it when you pull away."

"Well, then these two weeks apart will be good for us won't they? We'll both have time to think."

"I don't need to think Harry, I've loved you my entire life. I want to marry you, have your babies and be a family with you."

"Do you really? It's no secret that you've been with other men while we were apart. Not that I'm faulting you for that but really Gin, I sometimes wonder if you just want the security of a commitment, not necessarily me."

"I love you Harry. Only you."

"I love you too but something is not right between us and you know it. Like I said, let's take these two weeks and think about things." Harry sighed. He was tired of having the same conversation over and over again. It wasn't her fault, he knew that. He didn't know why he couldn't commit to her. All he ever wanted was a family of his own. He wanted to be a father and raise his children in the way he should have been, with two loving parents. He just wasn't sure if Ginny was the one to do that with. He'd only dated a few other girls and kept coming back to what was comfortable. He sometimes felt like he wanted to crawl out of his own skin into a different life. He looked over at Ginny and saw tears streaming down her face again. He didn't want to hurt her. That was one thing about Ginny, she always seemed to affect him with her emotions. He couldn't stand to see her upset.

"Merlin, I'm sorry Ginny. You know I've been feeling restless lately. I think this time in New York will be good for me, help me re-focus. I'll be back a few days before the ball. I'll come over as soon as I get home and I'll let you pick out my dress robes to match your dress. Now, I've got to get back to the ministry for my portkey. Is there anything you want from New York?" He didn't wait for an answer but picked up his bag, kissed Ginny on the cheek and headed for the fireplace. He regretted leaving her like that but he just couldn't face it anymore. Every day with her was putting more pressure on him. He knew deep down that he either needed to propose and commit or break up for good. His wavering wasn't healthy for either of them.

()()()()()()()()()()

Hermione had just returned from a busy day away from the Ministry. At least once a month the Ministry held open forums at different wizarding communities. It was an opportunity for her to sit down with people outside of London and give them legal advice. She loved that part of her job as it made her feel like she was helping people. She had been to four different magical communities in the last eight hours and was ready to settle in for another quiet Friday night. The one good thing about being away from the Ministry and meeting with strangers, was that she didn't have to kiss anyone. She had just opened the refrigerator to find some dinner when an owl hooted from her open window. After giving the owl a treat and taking the letter she sat down to read. She recognized Harry's handwriting at once.

_Hermione, _

_I feel like it's been so long since I've talked to you and I'm worried that I may have upset you in some way. I certainly hope not and that we've both just been too busy to get together. I wanted you to know that I am leaving tonight and will be in New York for the next two weeks. I will be working with the Auror department in America to strategize and share information. I'm looking forward to it. I've taken care of all of my duties for the ball and I gave all of the information I had to Neville. I know it's a bad time for me to leave. Especially since we haven't been able to have a meeting. I'll see you after I return, probably at the ball. Save me a dance. _

_Love, _

_Harry_

Hermione sighed in relief. She wouldn't have to worry about running into Harry for the next two weeks and would be able to relax at work. She would miss her friend dearly but knew it was perfect timing.

()()()()()()()()()

At work that Monday, Hermione felt like a weight was lifted knowing that Harry wasn't in the building. Her fear of changing their friendship was so great that she couldn't think straight. Now that he wasn't around, she could look people in the eye and if she had to kiss someone, she was fine with it. She wasn't one to fall into a crush very easily anymore so there were only a few more men to kiss that she could run into on a daily basis. Sure she recognized a good looking man but it took more these days to actually be attracted to someone. Back in her Hogwarts days it didn't take much. A smile, a look, even just a kind word in passing would make her think of the possibilities. That was why she was quite thankful that this had happened to her now and not when she was a student, she rarely saw most of her old schoolmates these days. Back then she would have had to kiss nearly every Gryffindor and several of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Slytherin was a different matter. She didn't remember being attracted to any of them when she was in school. It wasn't until after the war that she began to take notice of a few of them like Draco and Blaise. Obviously her disdain of that house had blocked any attraction. Surely Draco was handsome when he was in school too, she just didn't remember him like that.

Work kept her busy for most of the morning but her new-found confidence led her to the dining room for lunch. This time she wouldn't be running out with her hand over her mouth. She ate quickly, fear only occasionally setting in. She dreaded a scene in such a public place. She was just about to leave the table when Draco sat down next to her.

"Granger."

"Malfoy." She smiled at him despite the greeting. "You really could call me Hermione. You did say you wanted to be friends."

"Right, I should call the mother of my children by her given name." He smiled back.

"Don't say that too loudly, I don't need those rumors starting up again."

"I just wanted to warn you that Pansy let the whole thing slip to Blaise and a few others last night. She was drunk."

"What? Oh no. Tell me this is a joke!" Hermione reached out and clutched Draco's arm.

"I wish it were. Unfortunately she and Lavender were talking about you -quite loudly I might add- and a bunch of people overheard. I tried to shush her but you know Pansy when she's drunk. She's either talking very loudly or taking off her clothes."

"So maybe the others were also drunk and won't remember?"

"Unfortunately I just talked to Blaise and he remembered everything pretty clearly. He is feeling pretty sure that he'll be kissed. I don't suppose you can contain yourself just to knock him down a peg or two?"

"Why are you assuming that I'll have to kiss him? Just because I allowed one Slytherin a kiss, doesn't mean there will be another." She said with a very Slytherin smirk.

"Allowed? You didn't allow anything. You threw yourself on me!"

"True, but you liked it."

"Hell yes, I liked it. Who doesn't like a good kiss? Can we change the subject please." Draco muttered.

"Are you blushing? Did I make the great Draco Malfoy blush?" Hermione stared at Draco, humor in her eyes as she teased her new friend.

"I do not blush. It's warm in here." Draco cleared his throat. "As I was saying, I would love to see Blaise have his ego punched so can you please try not to kiss him?"

"Well, if and when I see him face to face, I won't be able to control it. I think that when I do fight it, that's when I get sick."

"Well if you must kiss him, then can you at least make it a good one? I mean really good, curl his toes."

"Did I curl your toes Draco?" Hermione was shocked at her brazen words but she found it easy to flirt with Draco and he was at least responding with humor.

"No! Will you stop changing the subject?" He was starting to blush again and damn it, he was getting frustrated. He couldn't believe that she would flirt with him, and unnerve him so much. If he didn't know he wasn't her true love, he might be flattered but now he was feeling a bit uneasy. "I figure if you can't knock Blaise down a peg, at least knock Pansy down. Wouldn't you love to see Pansy's face when Blaise tells her about the amazing kiss he had with you? Especially since it's all her fault in the first place."

"You are a devious man Draco Malfoy. I like it. A lot. All right, when I see Blaise, I'll give him all I've got -within reason of course. I just wish we could do this in front of Pansy. That way he wouldn't have to tell her, she'd be a witness."

"Now who's being devious? I like that idea too. All right, stay away from Blaise and I'll try to figure something out. Catch you later Granger."

"Later Malfoy." Hermione sat back and smiled. She was finally going to have a little fun with this. Now if she could just figure out a way to get back at Ginny.

()()()()()()

Towards the end of the work day she received a memo from Draco inviting her over for dinner that evening.

_Hermione, _

_If you aren't busy, I'd love it if you would come over for dinner tonight. I've invited Blaise and Pansy and thought you might like to "visit" with your friends. Bring your lips and be at my house around seven. Wear something sexy. I'll open my wards to you, just floo over. My house is called Little Malfoy Manor. Don't laugh, my mother named it. If I don't hear from you, I'll see you tonight. _

_Draco_

She smiled to herself as she gathered her things and headed for home. After feeding Crookshanks, she looked for something to wear. She wanted to save her new dress for the ball so that was out. She did have a little red cocktail dress that might be appropriate. She hadn't worn it in a couple of years but it was classic in style. The top was a halter that accented her breasts and left her back bare. It came to just above her knees and with a pair of strappy red heals, she had to admit that she looked good in it. It hugged her curves which she had finally started to appreciate. Staring at herself in the mirror she had a moment of sadness that she was getting all dressed up to go to Malfoy's house and not the house of the man she loved. She missed him so much. She took a couple more minutes to feel sorry for herself and then headed for the floo.

Draco was waiting for her, knowing that she was always precisely on time. She stumbled out of the fireplace and cast a cleansing charm on herself before she looked up and saw Draco staring at her.

"Damn Granger! I had no idea you hid that body under your robes."

Hermione blushed at his words. "Thank you Draco. I suppose that was a compliment?"

"Most definitely. You look beautiful. Blaise and Pansy are in the sitting room. Are you ready?"

"I think I can handle it. Let's go." Draco led her into the sitting room where Blaise was pouring himself a drink while Pansy flipped through a magazine.

"Hermione! I didn't know you'd be here, it's so good to see you, you look amazing. . . " Her voice trailed off as she noticed that Blaise was staring open jawed at Hermione. She only hoped he wouldn't drool. Hermione was looking at Blaise just as intently, with actual desire in her eyes. Pansy was just about to start accusing the two of having an affair when Draco stepped up and muttered "Look what your little potion is doing Pans." She watched as Hermione walked purposely up to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around him. Her idiot boyfriend actually leaned down to let her kiss him! Pansy felt the room get smaller and the air get thicker as she watched her friend, one of her best friends in fact, kiss her boyfriend with an intensity that made her feel very uncomfortable. While the kiss only lasted a few seconds, it left her shaken and quite frustrated. Not to mention a little bit turned on, which only led to more frustration.

Hermione stepped away from Blaise giving him a smile that could only be described as saucy. She looked over at a grinning Draco and a confused Pansy, giving them a wink.

"Gee, sorry for kissing your boyfriend Pansy but I have this little problem thanks to some of my nearest and dearest friends."

Pansy recovered and looked from Hermione to Draco to Blaise. Blaise was still staring like an idiot and yes, he most definitely was drooling. Draco and Hermione however looked like they were about to burst out in laughter and she quickly realized that this was all planned. "Fine, so you got your revenge by snogging my boyfriend. Very nice Hermione. I'm leaving." Pansy started to head out of the room when Hermione stopped her.

"I'm sorry Pansy, I really am, but I had to get back at you some way. Blaise is not my true love, I wouldn't have kissed him if I didn't already know that. I'd never do that to a friend." Hermione didn't want Pansy to leave angry with her. "Blaise, I'm sorry about bringing you into this but you were probably going to get kissed anyway, so I thought I'd do it right."

"Hey, no problem Hermione. Anytime." He gave her a goofy grin. "Pansy, you deserved that, you know it."

"Fine, I did. I'll stay, just keep your lips to yourself." Pansy finally started laughing and Hermione knew that their relationship would be fine. The foursome enjoyed their dinner and except for the admiring looks she continued to get from the men, which made her slightly uncomfortable, she had a very nice evening. Her social life was starting to improve all because she was the victim of stupidity. She may someday have to thank Ginny.

She was just climbing into bed after the long evening when her cell phone rang. She jumped out of bed and ran to her purse, convinced that something had happened to one or both of her parents. Nobody ever called this late unless something was wrong.

"Hello?"

"Hey beautiful."

"Harry?" She sighed in relief. "Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine. I'm just lonely and I thought I'd call my favorite person. Sorry it's so late."

"It's fine, I just got home a little while ago so I was still up."

"You just got home? That's not like you on a work night."

"No, not normally but I went over to Draco's for dinner."

Harry felt his stomach constrict at the mention of Draco's name. "You had dinner with Malfoy? At his house?"

"Yes, can you believe it's called Little Malfoy Manor? It's not that little but I suppose it's smaller than his parents' monstrosity." She laughed.

"Why were you at Malfoy's?" He snapped. "You hate him."

"I don't hate him. Not anymore at least. He's been very nice to me and he was really good about the whole rumor thing. He's actually a very witty, charming guy."

Harry started pacing his hotel room, trying to figure out what to punch. This was not good. He couldn't let her enjoy spending time with Malfoy. He didn't want her to go to his house and he certainly didn't want her to think he was charming.

"Harry are you there?" Hermione asked, worry clear in her voice.

"Yes. I'm here."

"Well, Draco invited me over along with Pansy and Blaise so that I would kiss Blaise in front of Pansy. It was so funny Harry, Pansy was so mad because, well trust me I gave him a good kiss. Draco said I should try to curl his toes, I don't know if I did that but I certainly had an effect on him. We all ended up having a good laugh and a good dinner. You should try spending more time with Draco, he's really very sweet."

"Can we please stop talking about Malfoy?" Harry begged, wanting to gag over the idea of Draco being sweet.

"Sure. Tell me about New York?"

"It's really great. I love it here. There is so much to do. I've been out to see the Statue of Liberty, I've been up to the top of the Empire State Building, and I've walked Central Park. I've done all the typical muggle tourist things. I wish you were here to see it with me," he added softly.

Hermione felt her chest clench at his words. "I wish I were too. When are you coming home?"

"Not for another two weeks. I actually didn't need to be here until today but I left on Friday so that I could have some time to myself. Have you talked to Ginny?"

"No. I'm trying to avoid her. What happened?"

"Nothing much, just another argument."

"What about this time?"

"The same as always. She wants to move in and get engaged, I don't want to, she lays on the guilt and I end up feeling bad. I actually walked into Tiffany yesterday."

Oh no. Please not that, Hermione thought. "Did you get her a ring?"

"I couldn't. It just didn't feel right. I have my mum's ring and I always thought that the woman I married would just wear that."

"I'm sure Ginny will be thrilled with your mum's ring." Hermione said sadly. She knew the pain was evident in her voice but she couldn't hide it.

"That's just the thing, she wasn't. When I told her about it, she made some comment about it being morbid to wear a dead person's ring and how she was hoping for something more modern. She hasn't even seen the ring."

"Well, that's a pretty harsh thing for her to say. I'm sure she just wants something new and shiny to show off." She laughed at her words and then realized they sounded cold. "I'm sorry Harry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Would you wear it Hermione?"

"What?" She couldn't possibly have heard right.

"The ring. If the man you were going to marry presented you with a ring that belonged to his mother or grandmother, would you wear it?"

"I'd be honored to wear a ring that meant so much to the man I love." Hermione sighed. She would give anything to wear a ring that special.

"That's what I thought. Well, I should let you go. Try to stay away from Malfoy all right?"

"He's not that bad. We'll talk about it later. Will you call me again?"

"Of course. Sleep well."

"Good night Harry."

"Good night Hermione."

**Author's Note: I apologize for the delay but in an extreme act of clumsiness I fell up the stairs and broke my arm. This really makes typing slow at the moment. The next chapter is half done but it isn't coming quickly. I won't abandon my story though. Just be patient. Oh and thanks for all the reviews!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of it.**

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for your kind reviews and well wishes on my broken arm. One more week and my fingers will be flying over the keyboard!**

Hermione woke suddenly from a very wonderful dream as a large weight settled on her chest. She had been dreaming of her true love. In her dream he was just about to slip a ring on her finger. She glared at the orange cat who was practically grinning at her while he sat on her and purred.

"You had to wake me up now? I was having the best dream. Oh Crookshanks, it was so perfect." She sighed as she pushed the cat off of her chest and sat up to stretch. She thought back over last nights events and couldn't help but smile. From dinner at Draco's to Harry's call, she was quite content. She had to admit that she enjoyed the attention as well. She had spent so much time in the background that having most of the men in her life actually wanting to kiss her was completely new and a little bizarre.

Draco's attention was the strangest. Beyond making amends after the war and occasionally traveling in the same social circles, they had never really talked or spent much time together. She had no idea that he wanted to be friends with her. She toyed with the idea of pursuing a relationship with him even if he wasn't her soul mate. Since the man of her dreams was off limits and she wanted marriage and children, she figured she might have to look elsewhere and Draco wasn't a bad choice.

()()()()()()()()

Arriving at work she continued to feel good about things. She was actually smiling at people, making eye contact and was hopeful. She had one embarrassing moment as she stepped out of the floo and ran into Oliver Wood. He was a bit shocked after she kissed him and walked right into the floo. Unfortunately he was still trying to figure out what happened and said something resembling "wha. . . tha. . . Her. . ." She had no idea where he flooed off to but she was sure it wasn't where he planned. She let security know and they were going to check into it to make sure he was all right. She felt a little bad but he was right in front of her and she didn't think there was a girl alive who wouldn't have a crush on him. He wasn't the best kisser but she figured it was because she shocked him. She refused to think the great Oliver Wood didn't know how to kiss.

As soon as she got to her floor, Melissa stopped her. "There are two guys waiting for you in your office."

"What? Who?" Hermione asked, her stomach dropping.

Melissa noticed that Hermione looked pale and decided to push her about what was going on later. "I don't know them. One is tall, dark, pretty handsome. The other is shorter, pale, not as handsome, and Irish."

Hermione was only slightly relieved. It had to be Dean and Seamus and whatever their reason for being in her office, it looked like more kisses were in her future. She should have brought lip gloss. "Did they say what they wanted?"

"Only that they heard you were giving something away and they expected their share."

"Those arseholes! I'll deal with them. Thanks Melissa." Hermione stomped off toward her office leaving Melissa with more questions.

She paused at the entrance of her office, took a deep breath and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She finally looked up into the smiling faces of her friends. "Hi guys," she sighed as she felt the pull towards them. Interestingly the desire to kiss Dean was stronger than it was for Seamus. It was something to put in her notes for later. Both boys were grinning at her and she hated that they knew they were getting kissed. She planned to figure out how they found out soon enough but for now she had to get it over with.

"Come here Dean." She ordered. Dean stepped forward and leaned over pressing his lips to hers. To her great relief it was short and sweet. Dean was always a bit of a gentleman.

"Seamus, you're next." Seamus came towards her licking his lips. Hermione thought that was terribly disgusting and decided to tell him that later. His kiss wasn't as short and it wasn't sweet. It was a bit slimy actually. "Ew! Get off me Seamus!" His hands had wandered dangerously close to her breasts and she wasn't about to let the prat feel her up. She stepped back and looked at the boys, she still refused to think of them as men.

"Get that grin off your face Seamus. Next time you go to kiss somebody, do not lick your lips. It's nasty." Hermione scolded as she moved behind her desk. "Sit down and talk to me."

"How have you been Hermione?" Dean asked.

"Not bad. How about you?"

"I'm all right." He seemed a bit off. There was a shadow under his smile.

"He's sad because he broke up with Romilda." Seamus explained.

"Oh Dean! I'm so sorry."

"I'm fine. I'll be fine." Dean told her. Hermione knew they had been having problems for a while but she was sad that it was over. Changing the subject, she turned to Seamus.

"Seamus? How are you?"

"Great! I'm taking over the Hog's Head from Aberforth. He wants to retire. I'm going to turn it into a proper pub." Seamus had proved to be quite good at running pubs. He had a good head for business.

"That's great, that place needs some work. Now, how did you hear about my little problem?"

"Ron told us." Dean answered.

"Yeah. He was bragging about you kissing him and then explained why. We thought we'd save you the trouble of seeking us out and bring our lips to you."

"Gee fellas, that's so nice of you." Hermione laughed, which brought a grin to Dean's sad face. "So, are you both going to the ball?" The friends talked for a little while longer until Hermione shooed them away so she could get some work done.

()()()()()()()()()()()

Hermione woke up to another Saturday where her plans were to hide away. Her week had gone by in a blur and was relatively nice. She had almost nightly calls from Harry and she spent time with friends. She had just decided to stay in her pajamas for the entire day when an owl arrived carrying a message from Molly Weasley.

_Hermione, _

_We are having a family get together tonight and I would love it if you would be there. You are a part of the family after all. Come at five, no excuses._

Love,  
Molly

The one thing about Molly was that you didn't refuse her. If she invited you for dinner, you had to go. Hermione had tried once before to get out of going and no less than four Weasley boys had shown up to take her by force if necessary. No, it was much safer to just go and since she didn't have to worry about Harry, she really had no good excuse. She secretly hoped that Ginny wouldn't be there but knew she would. She looked over at her calendar trying to figure out a reason for the get together. The next birthday wasn't for another month so at least she didn't need to run out and buy a gift.

After a productive day of cleaning and re-organizing her bookshelves, Hermione arrived at the Burrow right on time. She was immediately greeted by George who playfully tried to get her to kiss him again.

"Come on Hermione! You know I'm your true love! Pucker up!" He did manage to get a sloppy kiss planted on her cheek while she giggled and tried to squirm away.

"Leave it to you to make this whole situation a joke." She scolded.

They were interrupted by Molly shooing George away and ushering Hermione into the kitchen.

"Look who's here Hermione. Percy is here." Molly beamed.

"Hi Percy." Hermione waved.

"Hello Hermione. How are you this evening?"

"I'm good. How are things with you?"

"Very well thank you." Percy replied. Molly was looking at Hermione strangely.

"Percy is here." She repeated.

"I see that Molly, we just said hello."

"He's single." At Molly's response, she realized what was going on. Obviously Molly had been told about the potion and thought that maybe Percy might be her true love.

"Oh Molly. I'm sorry, he's not my true love."

"But you haven't even kissed him!" Molly threw her hands up in frustration.

"Why would she kiss me Mother? I am not attracted to her. No offense Hermione. Mother you know I'm in a relationship with Ritchie Coote."

"No offense taken Percy, I'm not attracted to you either. How is Ritchie by the way?" Hermione asked as Molly shook her head, muttered something about grandchildren and went over to stir something on the stove.

Percy leaned close to Hermione, "She doesn't care that I'm gay, she just wants me to figure out a way to give her grandchildren." He gave her a wink and headed into the back yard.

"Did I tell you Charlie was coming?" Molly called out.

"No, you failed to mention that one." Hermione muttered. And here she thought she would have a kissing free day. She looked around trying to anticipate how Charlie would arrive. If he apparated outside, she could meet him out there, kiss him and get it over with in private. If he showed up in the house she knew there wasn't much chance of avoiding an audience. Just as she had decided to head outside she heard a noise from the fireplace and Charlie Weasley stood there in all his masculine glory. She didn't know of another man who was more masculine than Charlie. He was muscular, rugged, and terribly handsome. He pretty much fit all the male leads in the trashy romance novels she kept hidden under her bed, complete with flowing hair and bulging biceps. Even the scars that she could see on his neck and arms added to his sensuality. She admitted to having a few daydreams where she looked to see where else he might have scars.

She could feel her body heating up in reaction to seeing him. There would be no running away from this. "Oh Merlin. . . " she muttered as she headed towards Charlie. She paused in front of him while he looked at her with an amused grin. He obviously had heard about her little problem.

"Go for it Hermione," he whispered. That was all it took for Hermione to run her hands along his shoulders, behind his neck and pull his lips towards hers. Even though she knew she had an audience, she couldn't help but lean in toward Charlie, especially when he put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Their lips moved against each other and Hermione moaned as he nibbled on her bottom lip. She had pretty much put Draco in the top spot when it came to her recent kissing spree. Lee Jordan was in a distant second place but she knew now that Charlie was in fact a much better kisser than Malfoy. She was pretty pleased that the egotistical Slytherin wasn't as good as he thought he was. Coming down to earth, she pulled back and stepped away.

"Bloody hell Charlie." Ron muttered after witnessing the whole scene.

"Bloody hell is right." Charlie agreed. "Damn Hermione, I never knew you had it in you."

"Yes. Well. Thank you Charlie that was very nice." Hermione was stuttering over her words and could feel her face turning red. She glanced over at Molly who was beaming.

"Very nice? I suppose that means that I'm not your true love either?" Charlie asked.

"I really wish you were Charlie. I really truly do."

"Mum, stop planning the wedding, he's not the one." George called out.

"I'm sorry Molly. I'm sorry to all of you. It's just not that simple." Tears started to leak from Hermione's eyes as she looked over at Ginny. Ginny gave her a sad smile and walked away. At least she now knew the reason for the dinner. She pulled herself together and decided to enjoy her evening. George was back at her side again making her laugh. She got caught up in talking with Luna and Angelina while Ginny looked on silently.

After dinner, the men went outside to do whatever it was men do and the women sat at the table, drinking tea, and taking turns holding little Dominique, Bill and Fleur's six month old daughter. Hermione could feel that they all wanted to talk to her about the potion. Every female in the room, with the exception of Molly and the baby had been involved, and Hermione hated the feeling of betrayal that was still bubbling up now and then.

"How are things going?" Angelina asked.

"Well, they could be worse I suppose. I just really wish it were over."

"Now dear, have you made a list?" Molly asked, still clearly disappointed that she wouldn't be marrying any of her sons.

"What kind of list?" Hermione asked.

"A list of the men that you still have to kiss of course. I would have thought you would do that straight off."

"Oh, well to tell you the truth, I haven't even thought about it. It's not a bad idea." Hermione answered. Fleur got up to get some parchment and a quill, handing it to Molly.

"Ok, let's list who you've kissed and who you haven't that might be candidates."

"I've kissed Ron, Charlie and George so you can eliminate them. At work I've kissed Kingsley, Blaise and Draco. Oh and that security guard, Raymond. I've also kissed Lee, Dean, Seamus, and Oliver. I suppose that's it. It felt like there were more."

"Now, who else have you had crushes on that you might run into?" Luna asked.

"Well, let's see. . . Cormac, Viktor -although I doubt I'll see him, Marcus Belby, Eddie Carmichael, Roger Davies, but again, I doubt I'll see any of them. I guess that's it, the rest are dead."

"Dead? Like who?" Fleur asked.

"Remus, Cedric, Sirius, Professor Snape, oh and Fred of course." She answered sadly. A flash of pain crossed Molly's face at the mention of her son but she recovered quickly and smiled.

"What about Harry?" Angelina asked, trying to see if her hunches were correct.

"You didn't mention that you kissed Harry." Ginny said. "Mum, put Harry down on the already kissed list."

"I didn't kiss Harry." Hermione answered.

"You didn't? I know for a fact you had a crush on him once." Luna added.

"I really haven't seen him so no I haven't kissed him."

"Harry said he hadn't seen much of you because you had the flu but I figured you had already kissed him and gotten it out of the way. Why haven't you kissed him Hermione?" Ginny was getting a little flustered and angry. Hermione wasn't sure why she would feel that way, you'd think that she'd be happy that she hadn't kissed her boyfriend.

"Well, I haven't had a chance Ginny. I was ill and now he's in New York. You seem pretty upset that I haven't kissed your boyfriend, shouldn't it be the opposite?"

"No, I'm not upset; I just figured he'd be one of the first. You should get it out of the way before the ball you know. You don't want to make a scene."

"Ginny, if I make a scene, it's all your fault anyway."

"I've already apologized, when are you going to get over this?" Ginny yelled.

"Get over this? I've just had some of the most humiliating weeks of my life and you want me to just get over it? You don't have a clue what you've done do you?"

"I was trying to help! You must want to be miserable."

"Oh yes, that's exactly my life's goal. Misery. I love to be miserable." Hermione was mad now. She was on her feet, her fists curled and she was raging at Ginny. "You know what? I wasn't miserable until you did this to me. I was content with my life. Sure I was a little lonely but I had my whole life in front of me. Let's use Charlie as an example; I've always been attracted to him. He's a great guy and we might have eventually dated and who knows, maybe we would have lived happily ever after. Now everyone knows that he's not my true love and so any chance of happiness with him is gone. I can't have my true love. He doesn't belong to me and never will. You've ruined my chance at a happy ending so stop being such a bitch and let me live my life."

Hermione was stalking the room now, running her hands through her hair and shooting daggers at anyone who looked at her. The men had gathered around the door and window, listening but staying hidden to avoid any dangerous hexes that might be thrown.

"Don't you call me a bitch." Ginny stood up, her face red and her eyes shining.

"You deserve to be called much worse Ginny. I love you but right now I can't stand to be around you. Thank you for dinner Molly. Goodbye." Hermione pushed out the door and through the crowd of Weasleys who were gathered. She headed towards the pond, too upset to apparate home and not willing to go back in the house to floo. It wasn't until she plopped down on a bench that she realized she had been followed.

"Leave me alone George."

"No. I really don't think I want to." He sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around his friend. "I'm so sorry for everything you are going through. I know I've joked about it but it was only to lift your spirits."

"I appreciate that. You are a great friend."

"I try. So tell me why you won't kiss Harry." George thought he knew why. Angelina had talked to him about her suspicions.

"Oh, not you too." She tried to pull away but George pulled her against him tighter. "I don't want to kiss Harry. I don't want to go there with my best friend. I don't want to ruin our friendship."

"I don't think anything you do would hurt your friendship with Harry. I've never known anyone more faithful to his friends."

"I know and I agree it's just that. . . I don't want to talk about it."

"You can tell me anything you know." George let Hermione out of his grasp and watched her as she paced. "You know you want to talk about it."

She paused and looked at him. The emotion in her face was raw and George had to strain to hear her cracking voice. "If I kiss him then I'll know."

"You'll know what?"

"That my true love doesn't love me."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own it! I really wish I did. **

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for your patience and support. I now have use of all 10 fingers! Enjoy!**

George, recognizing how hard it was for Hermione to confess her big secret, moved towards his friend and wrapped his arms around her. She began to sob then and he could feel her body shaking. He was not entirely comfortable with crying women. He was a man after all. At a loss, he led her back to the bench and held her.

"So, the man you love is Harry?" George sighed. He expected it really but the reality was still difficult. He knew his sister would be crushed because he suspected that Harry felt the same way.

"Yes." Hermione mumbled into George's shirt.

"How long?"

"Forever. For as long as I can remember." Hermione sat back and wiped her nose with the handkerchief George handed her. "It's always been Harry."

"Why didn't you ever tell him? Why didn't you make a move?"

"I couldn't! By the time I figured out I had feelings for him he had completely fallen for Cho and then it was all about Ginny. Ginny is -or was- my closest female friend. I couldn't do that to her. Plus, why would I set myself up for humiliation as Harry clearly doesn't feel the same way?"

"How do you know he doesn't feel the same way?" George asked, knowing full well he was going to regret this conversation.

"He loves Ginny. He wouldn't keep going back to her if he didn't." Hermione sniffed, wiping her tears again. She never should have worn mascara.

George didn't reply to her comment. He had long suspected that Harry went back to Ginny only because he didn't know he had other options. Harry had confided to him that he hated dating. He didn't trust many people, but Ginny was safe.

"Were you in love with Harry when you were dating my brother?" He finally asked.

"Yes, but I really did love Ronald too. I felt that Harry was lost to me and I had genuine feelings for Ron. If we weren't so different, I could have had a happy life with him. I'm glad we broke up though, it was for the best."

"What are you going to do Hermione?"

"Nothing. Avoid Harry until after this potion wears off and try not to kill your sister. I really don't want to hurt her even though what she's done is killing me."

"You'll do what's best I'm sure, but you can't avoid the truth forever." George said wisely. Hermione gave him another hug, waved goodbye and walked to the apparition point. Neither was aware that Ginny had heard the whole conversation.

()()()()()()()()

Hermione was just getting ready to head home on her last work day before the ball when Draco stopped by to see her.

"Granger."

"Malfoy." She smiled up at him, once again amazed at their new friendship.

"Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?" He asked, slipping into the chair across from her desk and looking entirely too sexy for his own good. Hermione took a long look at him, trying to figure out his motives.

"You want me to go out to dinner with you?"

"Yeah. Remember Miles Bletchly? He was a couple of years ahead of us in school."

"Yes, didn't he hit Katie with that curse one year?"

"Yeah that was him." Draco chuckled at the memory. "Anyway, believe it or not, he married a muggle and opened up a restaurant near Oxford Street. I thought we might go check it out."

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"Yes I am. What do you think?" He winked at her, gearing up for major flirtation if need be. "I know you are pining away for some mystery man but you do have to eat, and who better to eat with than the most eligible bachelor in London."

"Actually I think the most eligible bachelor in London happens to be Prince William but I wouldn't mind eating with him, even if he is a little too young for me and has a lovely girlfriend." She smiled at his scowl. "I'd love to have dinner with you Draco."

Draco gave her a genuine smile and told her what time he'd pick her up. Before leaving he leaned down and lightly kissed her cheek. Hermione couldn't help but grin stupidly as she packed the rest of her belongings. Her heart may belong to Harry but she was still flattered by the attention.

At exactly seven o'clock, Draco appeared at her front door and made all the appropriate comments about her appearance while she blushed and stumbled out the door. She'd already had a few drinks just for courage, and it certainly helped with her nervousness. Hermione wasn't sure what was going on with her but she was enjoying every moment with Draco. She felt giddy and actually giggled several times over dinner. Miles was welcoming and didn't appear to be anything like the rude Slytherin that she remembered. His muggle wife was lovely and obviously pregnant. Draco told her that this baby would be the first non- pureblood born into the Bletchly family for two centuries. Apparently Miles was actually hoping for a non-magical child as he was enjoying living as a muggle. Hermione loved hearing the new attitudes that even pureblood Slytherins had taken after the war. She was thrilled with the changes in the wizarding world and proud to be a part of it.

Draco was attentive and flirtatious, nearly the perfect date. Hermione was definitely attracted to him and this caused her to be completely confused by the end of the evening as Draco walked her to her door. She stunned herself when she turned to him and grabbed his shirt. "Kiss me again Draco?"

Draco of course didn't hesitate, pulling her into his arms and moving his lips slowly over hers. It was when he whispered her name that she stepped back. Tears sprung to her eyes and she covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry I can't do this!" she cried.

"Why not Hermione? Why not?" Draco asked, frustrated with the abrupt end of the kiss.

"You aren't him! Why did I have to fall in love with him? Why did he have to save me from that troll? Why was he always so brave and loyal?" She was ranting now as she unlocked her door and threw her coat over the chair. Draco, unsure whether he should follow her or not, closed the door and followed her into the kitchen, still listening to her arguing with herself. "What was so good about Cho anyway? Sure she is beautiful and smart but she was such a whiner back in school. Ginny's gorgeous and everything but she can be very selfish. What does he see in her? Why was he never interested in me Draco? Why?" She sobbed the last word and slid down onto the kitchen floor.

Draco sat down across from her after grabbing the box of tissues from her table. She took the one he offered and noisily blew her nose.

"So, it's Potter then? He's the man you love, the one you've been avoiding?" Draco saw her slight nod as she looked at him in horror. "I'm guessing you didn't want to tell me this?" Again, her head moved slightly telling him that no, this was not a secret she planned on spilling to him of all people. Draco sighed and leaned back against the cabinet. Once again he was coming second to Harry bloody Potter. He was not thrilled with this new development. He was hoping that it would be someone simple, like one of the Weasleys or some poor Hufflepuff. He couldn't compete with the Boy Who Kept on Living. He didn't even want to try.

"Ok Hermione. I've got something to say and you need to hear it. Obviously, you have a history with Potter that is going to prevent anyone from taking his place in your heart. I'm not stupid, I get that. I'd love to go out with you again, I'd love to try dating you but I think you need to figure out if Potter is truly the man for you before we go further. You need to kiss him, get it out of your system and see how he feels. Don't keep him in the dark about this because I've heard rumors he isn't that thrilled with Ginny lately. You might have a shot, but unless you take that chance you'll never know. Kiss him the next time you see him, don't run away and fight it. If he doesn't love you back, you'll know and can move on. I wouldn't mind it if you moved on with me, but you've got to start living your life one way or another. If you really love him you owe it to him to give him a chance as well." Draco stood up and helped a stunned Hermione to her feet. "Now, I'm going to say goodnight but I'd like to ask you one more thing. If things don't go well with Harry, I would be honored if I could escort you to the ball."

Hermione stood for a moment, still shocked by everything that had happened that night. She'd gone from a lovely dinner, to a really good kiss, to an angry rant, to tearful embarrassment and was now being asked to the ball. She needed a drink. Shaking herself back into awareness, she leaned into Draco and gave him a hug. "Thank you. Thank you for understanding and telling me what I needed to hear. I would love to go with you to the ball Draco." She pulled back and gave him a weak smile.

"I'll plan on picking you up the night of the ball unless I hear from you. If Potty Potter comes through, just send me an owl, no hard feelings. I am after all Draco Malfoy, I can easily find a date." He gave her another hug, his trademark smirk and was out the door. Hermione sat back down on the floor and reached for the bottle of firewhiskey she hid behind her waffle maker. Draco was right of course, she needed to get it over with. She needed to face her fears and find out once and for all if she was ever going to have a chance with Harry. She'd do it. She'd kiss him as soon as he was back from New York and then move on. She took another swig from the liquor bottle before hauling herself up and heading for bed. She was confident now, she knew what she had to do.

()()()()()()()()()

Ginny knew what she had to do as well. She needed to keep Harry away from Hermione at any cost. She had long wondered if her best friend felt more than friendship for Harry but she convinced herself that was just silly. They were like siblings. Sure they were affectionate, but never inappropriate. She had heard the whole conversation that Hermione had with George. She was hidden under a disillusionment charm and with the help of a silencing charm, she had climbed a nearby tree. Add some extendable ears and she heard every word. She wasn't angry at Hermione. How could she be? Hermione had basically said that she'd never made a move on Harry because of Ginny. What bothered her most was George's question. How was Hermione sure that Harry didn't feel the same way. What if he did?

She didn't want to face the idea that maybe, just maybe, Harry didn't really love her. She couldn't let him go. She had built her whole future on him. She wasn't about to start over with someone new now. She'd spent too many years waiting for Harry to propose and she knew he was getting close. He'd better be. She wanted a ring on her finger before her next birthday or there would be hell to pay. She needed to make sure that Harry would come straight to her and then she'd keep him busy, maybe even too busy to go to the ball. She could fake an illness and keep him home with her. She didn't need to wear that fabulous dress. She'd make sure Hermione's lips never touched his. Once the potion wore off, everything would go back to normal.

()()()()()()()()()()

Harry knew what he had to do too. He had to pack his bags and head home. New York was an amazing opportunity for him to get away from the daily routine but he knew he couldn't stay and run away from his problems. He missed his home, his friends, and even his job. He should have gone home three days ago. His assignment was over but he had the time off to prepare for the ball anyway so he decided to play tourist a few more days. He felt bad about leaving Hermione to do all the work but she assured him that he shouldn't worry and to take his time. It was Ginny who didn't like that he was delayed. She threw a fit about him not coming home until the day of the ball. He assumed that she was worried he wouldn't have time to make himself presentable but he was a wizard after all. A few spells and he'd look fine. He was going to surprise her by coming home now though. It was the day before the ball and before he saw Ginny, he had something important to do. He'd made a decision about his future and he had to take care of one thing before going to her flat. He also had a bit of last minute shopping to do.

()()()()()()()()()()()

Hermione spent the day before the ball getting the banquet room at the ministry ready. The room looked like it came direct from a fantasy. She, Neville, Katie, and Angelina had worked all day to get it perfect. It was gorgeous and she knew all her hard work would be worth it. It was certainly made for fairy tales. She only had to send a few owls in the morning and then she had all day to get ready for the ball. She felt great satisfaction in her hard work.

As she walked the few blocks to her house, enjoying the warm evening, she thought back to her conversation with Draco the night before. She had gone to bed resolved to face Harry but sometime during the night her mind changed and she found herself imagining different avoidance tactics all day. She even went so far as to look into a temporary blindness charm so she wouldn't see anyone at the ball. If it weren't for worrying about walking in her heels without her eyesight, she might have considered it. She knew that kissing Harry was the last thing that could happen. She didn't care what Draco said, Harry would be happier not knowing how she felt.

As she walked to her door she was alerted that her wards had been breached. It was a friendly breach and she figured it was probably Ron looking for food. She was already in the entryway before she felt the nausea and the sweating. She turned in her place and looked directly into the eyes of the one person she was hoping to avoid.

"Harry!"


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer: I don't own it. I want it but I'm not getting my hopes up. **_

"Harry!" Hermione wanted to die. She was hoping that this was a very bad dream. She turned back around and tried to get her door back open. Finally in defeat she banged her head against the door and covered her face. "Please leave Harry, quickly before I get sick."

"I thought you'd be happy to see me." Harry was hurt and confused by her actions. "I came right here after leaving New York."

"Please leave Harry!" Hermione cried as she ran from her door to her bathroom. Her stomach was reacting as violently as ever and she finally had to give in and be sick.

Harry didn't leave, he didn't follow her into the bathroom either. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he had to talk to her. She was the voice of reason for him, the one person who always helped him through his big decisions and he needed her now more than ever. He sat down and waited. He had always been patient.

Hermione looked at herself in the mirror. Her makeup was blotchy, her face was pink and damp from perspiration. She hoped that Harry had left but she knew in her heart that he hadn't. She knew Harry well enough to know that he wouldn't leave without an explanation. Draco's words came back to her and she knew she needed to just get it over with. If Harry didn't want her, she had other options now. This wasn't the end of her world. She washed her face, fixed her hair, brushed her teeth and walked to the door. She could do this.

"Harry? Are you still here?" She called from behind the closed door.

"Yes Hermione. I'm not leaving either." Harry stood up and walked toward her bathroom door.

"I'm going to come out now. I have to tell you something first." She knew she was being a coward by talking through a closed door but she knew as soon as she walked out and saw him there wouldn't be any time for explanations.

"I'm listening. Hermione, you can tell me anything."

"I know I can but this is hard. We've been friends for what? Fifteen years or so? Over the course of those fifteen years I have occasionally thought of you as more than a friend."

"Really?" Harry couldn't help but smile at this confession. He was surprised, but relieved that she had at one time had a crush on him.

"So. . . Because I'm still under the effects of that potion, when I come out there I'm going to have to kiss you. If I try to resist, I'll get sick again. I'm terribly sorry, I don't want to do anything to hurt our friendship but unless you leave, I won't be able to stop it."

Harry thought about what all this meant. He could leave, avoid her for a few more days and nothing would change or he could stay and possibly change everything. If he stayed, he would kiss his best friend. He would kiss Hermione Granger. His stomach started doing flip flops but he realized that they were a good thing. He liked the idea of kissing Hermione. He had wanted to kiss her in second year when she awoke from being petrified. He was only twelve at the time but he knew how he felt. He had fought off crushes on her because she was Ron's girl and then when she wasn't he was caught in a relationship with Ginny. It seemed their timing was never right. Of course that didn't mean the timing was right now either. Maybe she would just kiss him and that would be it. He was still with Ginny after all. Harry knew one thing. This might be his one and only chance to kiss Hermione and he wasn't about to let it pass.

"I'm not leaving." He called out to her.

Hermione sighed in relief. A part of her hoped he would be gone but this was her chance, probably her only chance. She had to take it. With her hand on the doorknob, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

Her eyes locked on his brilliant green eyes. Everyone said they were his mother's eyes but for Hermione, they were his alone. The nausea swept over her again, but she didn't turn to run. She walked up to Harry, the only man she'd truly ever loved and stopped. They were very close to each other and Hermione's breath hitched. It did that regularly when she was near Harry but this was different, this was going to lead to something, something she wanted more than anything in her life. Hermione placed her hands on Harry's chest, fingering the seams along the row of buttons. She looked down at her feet, working up to the inevitable.

Harry for his part stood still. He could hear her ragged breath and he shivered just slightly when she touched him. There was nothing unusual about her touching him but this was different. There was anticipation in every move and every breath. He ran his finger lightly down her cheek finally tipping her chin up so she would look at him. Time seemed to stand still as every part of his body reacted to her, his Hermione, his best friend.

Hermione couldn't stand it any longer and leaned in. When her lips touched Harry's it was as if the most beautiful song ever written collided with the most beautiful work of art ever painted. Hermione knew the difference now. She knew what the potion was all about. It was the best kiss of her life. She pulled back, breaking the kiss even though it was the last thing she wanted. She had to know, she had to see if he had felt it too. She looked into his eyes. She expected to see indifference, boredom, or at least a lack of interest. She didn't expect to see fire, passion, and affection.

Harry didn't want that kiss to end. He couldn't believe she would pull away but when she looked at him, he knew why. She was afraid. So was he, but he didn't care anymore. He lifted a hand to cup her cheek and pulled her back toward him, holding her close. Their lips met again, this time with more pressure, more passion. His hand pressed against her lower back, pulling her tighter against him as he tasted her lips. He wanted more and it was clear she did too as she willingly opened her lips allowing his tongue to meet hers. Neither could think anymore, it was all about feeling and it all felt so right.

Air finally became a factor and they reluctantly pulled apart, resting their foreheads together while they gasped for the oxygen they needed. Hermione was feeling very weak and stepped back to go sit on the sofa. It was all so overwhelming. She had just had the best kiss of her life from her best friend who was still officially still dating another friend and she had no clue how he was feeling.

He was in fact feeling very good. He was feeling very happy and content for the first time in years. He had just had the best kiss of his life and he needed more. He needed her. He followed her to the sofa and sat close. He reached for her hand and linked her fingers with his. He just needed to touch her right now.

"Harry?" Hermione finally broke the silence. "Are you all right?"

"I'm great, a little confused, but great." He smiled at her then and her heart felt like it was going to burst. She expected him to walk out the door, back to Ginny. She didn't expect to be the recipient of a dazzling smile that she rarely saw anymore.

"Thank you for kissing me." Hermione wanted to eat the words after saying them. How stupid could she be? Yet Harry continued to smile. "Harry? What brought you here? Last I heard you weren't going to be home until tomorrow."

"Right. Well that was the plan. I finally realized I was ready to come home though. These weeks away were really good for me. I was able to step back and evaluate everything. I was ready to come back. As to why I came here, I always depend on you to help me make my big decisions. I was hoping to talk things through."

"Talk what through? What decision did you make?" Hermione was starting to get a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Well, it's regarding Ginny." Harry said slowly.

"Oh. Of course. Are you going to propose?" Hermione braced herself for the news. Of course Ginny would say yes and her own dreams would be crushed.

"No. I'm going to break up with Ginny. It wasn't until after one of our conversations that I realized I had other options. I thought it was cut and dry. I really thought that eventually I would have to marry Ginny and that would be my life. I didn't think that there were any other options for me. I finally realized that I could just break up with her and it would be over. For good this time. You know I don't trust that many people so the idea of dating makes me ill. I thought Ginny was my only choice. Do I have another choice Hermione?"

Hermione wasn't sure how to answer that. She wanted to scream at him that of course he had another choice and it was her! On the other hand, he didn't need another woman pressuring him. She was confident that the kiss they shared had meant something to him, but she didn't know how bold she should be. Once again, Draco's words came back to her. She stood up and started pacing the room. Finally she stopped in front of Harry and looked down into his eyes.

"When you kissed me the effects of the potion were over. The potion would expire when the time was up or I kissed my true love, whichever came first. Time's not up Harry. I love you. I always have and I always will. You do have another option, you just have to make your decision."

Harry stood up and pulled Hermione into his arms. "I think this is the easiest decision of my life." Upon whispering those words he leaned in for another kiss. It started out sweet and turned quickly to fire. Somehow they ended up back on the couch, bodies pressed against each other as they fought to take more from each other. They didn't talk about the future any more that night. Over dinner and wine they discussed New York and traveling. They both wanted to see the world and though neither said it, they knew they would see it together. Later they cuddled on the couch, just touching each other and whispering. If Hermione could pick the most perfect moment of her life, that night would have been it. Harry felt Hermione slip into sleep as he held her. Her whole body relaxed and she had a smile on her face. He slowly moved from behind her and lifted her into his arms. He put her down on her bed and covered her up. Just as he was about to go home, he decided he didn't want to leave her and slipped into bed beside her.

Hermione woke early in the morning to the soft sound of light snoring and a warm body pressed against her back. As this was a very unusual occurrence for her she had to take a few moments to process everything. She had to decide if it was time to scream and hex whoever was in her bed or if this was something she wanted. The memories of the night before came flooding back and Hermione realized that it was quite possible that Harry Potter was in her bed. She lifted up the blanket to check on her state of dress. A little disappointed that she was still wearing last nights clothes, she sighed and started to turn toward the now quiet form holding her a little tighter than before.

She sighed when she saw that it was Harry. It wasn't the first time they had woken up together, or slept in the same bed. During those months of Horcrux hunting, she had shared Harry's bed on several occasions, always completely innocent though. It was a horrible time for them and she would often join Harry or Ron in their beds. Sometimes all three of them would hold each other, Hermione always between them, wrapped in warmth. While it was the worst year of her life, it also held some of her happiest moments.

Sleepy green eyes met hers and she couldn't help but start to smile.

"Good morning my beautiful girl," Harry said softly as he pulled her even closer.

"Good morning Harry." Hermione said his name on a breath, not believing that he was still here. She reached out a hand to brush the messy hair from his eyes. "You're still here."

"I didn't want to leave."

"I'm glad you didn't." He leaned down to kiss her then. Normally she would be very concerned about morning breath but with Harry she didn't care. He'd seen her worse, he'd smelled her worse in fact. None of them smelled very rosy after camping out for all those months. Her lips met his eagerly and he slowly moved his body so he was over her. She couldn't get up if she wanted to and she really didn't want to.

Harry wasn't exactly sure what he was doing. He knew he wanted Hermione. It was as if all those years of uncertainty disappeared when he kissed her last night. The knowledge that he could have a life with his best friend was unbelievable to him. He tried to focus on the woman who was wiggling beneath him but thoughts of Ginny kept popping in. Panting, he finally stopped his devouring of Hermione and struggled to sit up. He was hard as a rock and as frustrated as a very turned on man could get.

"I'm sorry Hermione."

"You didn't have to stop." She whispered.

"I didn't want to. Believe me. It's just not fair to you. Not yet."

"I don't understand." Hermione got out of bed, leaving the warmth and walked over to stand in front of Harry.

"I need to deal with Ginny first."

"Oh." That was all she could think of to say. "Did you change your mind? Are you going to propose?"

"What? No! Of course not. I never wanted to marry Ginny. Never. I want to explore this thing between us Hermione. I want to be with you. Believe me."

"Then be with me Harry. That's all I've ever wanted."

"I will. We'll be together, I promise with everything that's in me. I just. . . " He trailed off as he stood up to start walking around the room.

"You just have to break up with Ginny first. Right?"

"More or less. Hermione, I do care about Ginny. She's been my girlfriend for years and I can't forget that. I need to go talk to her. I promised that I would let her pick out my dress robes for the ball tonight. I need to go. I'm sorry."

"I see. You are taking Ginny to the ball then?" Hermione couldn't hide her disappointment. She thought after everything they'd talked about, the kisses they'd shared, she'd at least be going to the ball with him.

"I just don't know if I can do this to her now. Not the night of the ball. I need to figure out how to break up with her. I need to do it the right way, and for good this time, but I don't want to hurt her too badly. Please understand." Harry took Hermione's hands in his and pleaded with her. "Please Hermione, let me do this and I promise I'll do it quickly. I love you."

"Oh Harry, I love you too. Go ahead. Deal with Ginny in you own way. I'll see you tonight." Hermione didn't want to let him go. She knew that Ginny would do anything to hold on to Harry and she knew she was risking everything by giving her the opportunity.

"Save me a dance." Harry gave her a quick kiss and left.

Hermione could only stand there hoping and praying that she didn't lose her true love before she even really had him. Hermione was never one to shirk off her duties even when wallowing in self pity. She quickly got the owls sent off, floo called Neville for any last minute issues and began to prepare for the ball. She did allow for at least an hour of moping in front of the telly.

()()()()()()()()

Harry didn't go right over to Ginny's. He flooed home to shower and change clothes before he went to visit Pansy. She opened the door in a bath robe and a blue facial mask. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or scream.

"Harry! You are back!" Pansy said with a stiff mouth. Her words were a little mumbled and cracks were formed when she tried to smile.

"Hey Pansy. Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Sure. Let me just go wash my face." Pansy hurried off to scrub the mask off while Harry waited in the study.

"Oh! Hi Harry, I didn't know you were here." Blaise walked into the room surprised to see his friend.

"Hi Blaise, I came to talk to Pansy. She went to wash her face."

"Oh yeah. She's been walking around with that blue stuff on for a while now. She started getting ready for the ball before I even got out of bed. That's the good thing about being a guy. We just throw on clothes and go." The two men talked while waiting for Pansy, who eventually returned with a full face of make up.

"All right Harry, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you had any more of that potion. The one you gave Hermione."

"Well, I did save samples yes. Why do you need it?"

"I don't want to tell you right now. I don't need the full twenty-eight day version, the short term version is fine. I just have to prove something to someone. Please don't ask."

Pansy studied Harry's face. She knew something was wrong, he looked conflicted. Harry didn't ask for much, his hard childhood had led him to be quite self-sufficient. All of his friends knew that when he needed something it was for good reason. "All right Harry. I'll go get it." She quickly returned with the vial. "You aren't giving anymore to Hermione are you? I think she's had enough."

"No, it's not for Hermione. Well, it is in a way, but she won't be taking it. Thanks Pansy. I'll see you both tonight."

()()()()()()()()()()()

Harry headed over to Ginny's flat next. He had promised her he'd be there that morning and he was a man of his word. Of course the fact that he was going to break up with her soon didn't say much for his character but he knew beyond a doubt that for the first time in many years, he had found what he wanted. He wanted Hermione! He couldn't believe that he could feel the way he did. He was excited about the future, about everything. He was in love, apparently for the first time. He just didn't know how to break Ginny's heart. He wouldn't do it today. He was sure Hermione understood. He'd have to play the doting boyfriend for one more night. Ginny had been looking forward to this ball for months and he couldn't do that to her.

"Gin? You home?" Harry called out as he let himself in her front door.

"Harry! Finally!" Ginny came rushing at him, dressed in a bathrobe and wearing a familiar blue face mask. "How was New York? Did you see anything wonderful? Was it as amazing as I hear? Come, tell me everything while I wash my face."

Harry followed her into her bedroom and sat on the bed while she cleaned up.

"So, did you just get back?" Ginny asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"I went home first to shower and change. It was nice to be in familiar surroundings. You said you wanted to tell me what to wear so I thought I'd come find out and then go home and get ready. I want to stop by the ballroom to make sure there aren't any last minute duties. I feel bad leaving it all on Hermione and Neville."

"Oh, they had help. They were fine. I have your robes right here, I picked out the classic black, but transfigured the tie to match my dress perfectly. You could change here, we could spend the day together." Ginny was still hopeful that Harry had come home with a ring.

"I really can't. I've got so much to do. I'll pick you up at seven." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and headed for the floo. "Oh, I almost forgot, I have a souvenir for you. I'll bring it tonight."

**Author's Note: I know some of you were rooting for Draco. Don't worry about him. He'll be fine. He is a Malfoy after all.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. I'm not making any money from it. No harm intended.**

At exactly seven, Hermione's doorbell rang. She was dressed. She looked good. She was a nervous wreck. Her nerves now had nothing to do with how many men she'd throw herself at but about the speech she had to give and of course that pesky little Ginny issue. She really didn't want Ginny to be hurt, but she knew that if things went her way, Ginny would be. There was no getting around it. Hermione couldn't exactly say "Hey Ginny, just because the man you want to marry is in love with me doesn't mean we can't go out for drinks." Her relationship with Ginny was broken the moment she gave her the potion and she wasn't sure it would ever be repaired. Her other friends had made an effort to ask for forgiveness but Ginny's attitude made Hermione angrier at her than anyone else.

Glancing in the mirror one more time, Hermione walked to the door. She secretly wondered if Harry would be on the other side but didn't get her hopes up. It was a good thing too. She opened the door to a devastatingly handsome Draco Malfoy, holding a bouquet of wildflowers.

"Gods Hermione, this is the second time you've taken my breath away. You look amazing."

Hermione blushed as she took the flowers he offered. She conjured a vase and set the flowers on her entry table. "Thank you Draco. You look very nice as well."

"Yes, well I am a Malfoy. I wear things well."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "You have the biggest ego I've ever known! Somehow it's charming on you though."

"Charm is another Malfoy trait." He smiled at her and offered his arm. "Shall we go?"

"Why not." As they apparated away, she thought she probably should have told Harry about her date.

()()()()()()()()()()

Harry was impatiently waiting for Ginny to finish getting ready. He sat uncomfortably on her couch wondering if this would be the last time he would be welcome in her flat. He knew this wasn't going to go well. He had made his mind up to let her have this one last night with him but then he started to waver. The idea that he could go home with Hermione was so pleasant that he didn't know if he could wait to break up with her. He really did care for Ginny though, and wanted to do this the easiest way he could.

Ginny stepped out of her bedroom in a stunning green dress that was a perfect fit on her. He smiled, he couldn't help it. Ginny was a beautiful woman, there was no doubt about that. She was also a warm, fun, energetic woman that would make any man happy. Any man but him apparently. It would make his life so much easier if he could just get down on one knee and propose to her. Everyone expected it. The entire Weasley family was counting on him to marry Ginny. Most people would be very happy for him. Except Hermione. Except himself. Harry would be miserable. He didn't want what was expected of him, he just wanted Hermione.

"Ginny, you look stunning." He told her, and he was being completely honest.

"Thank you Harry. I don't think we should go though."

"What? Ginny, we have to go. I'm giving a speech, you are all dressed."

"I'm not feeling very well. I think we should stay in."

"I have to go. I don't have a choice. This is my charity. I've shirked all my duties for the last two weeks. I'm sorry you aren't feeling well, but I really need to go." Harry secretly hoped she'd just stay home, but Ginny wasn't about to let Harry out of her sight.

"All right. I understand. I'm sure I'll be fine once I eat something."

"Are you ready then?" Harry asked, preparing to take her arm and apparate.

"I'm ready, but you did mention bringing me a souvenir, I have to say I'm a bit anxious." Ginny completely expected a ring and wanted to wear it to the ball.

"Oh! I almost forgot." Harry reached in his pocket for her gift.

()()()()()()()()()()

Hermione smiled as she stood outside the ballroom. The room was getting full already which meant the turnout was better than expected. The music spilled from the open doorway and she took a moment to appreciate the hard work so many had put into this.

"You seem lost in thought." Draco said.

"I was just thinking how beautiful it all looks and how much it will benefit the charity."

"It is a good thing that you are doing. You should be proud." He looked down at Hermione and actually saw peace on her face for the first time in almost a month. "Hermione?"

"What?"

"How many guys am I going to watch you kiss tonight?"

"What? Oh! Well, none actually."

"You've kissed everyone?"

"Oh no, but the effects of the potion are over." She really didn't want to explain herself.

"Harry's back?" He said with a sigh and a scowl.

Hermione looked up at him. "Oh Draco, I'm so sorry. I should have told you earlier."

"If Harry is back and you kissed him, why isn't he here with you tonight? Is he not your true love?"

"No, he definitely is, but he's bringing Ginny. They are still technically dating."

Draco looked at Hermione and saw the hurt look in her eyes. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing Draco. He promised me he would break up with her, he loves me. He just wanted to give her this last night, since they had planned to go together."

"She's a pretty hot bird, she could have found another date."

"He didn't want to hurt her. He's going to do it his way. I trust him."

"If you say so. We should go in and let everyone admire me."

Hermione laughed once again and let him lead her into the ballroom.

They were both admired as they entered the room. Eyes followed them as they made their way to their assigned table. They were a unique couple to say the least. It was still unusual for a Malfoy to spend time with a muggleborn and it was well known that this pair had never gotten along. Dinner would be served and then all the tables would move to the sides revealing a polished dance floor. Hermione had done the table assignments herself days before her relationship with Harry had changed. She had purposely assigned herself to a table as far across the room as she could get, sitting with Ministry officials. She regretted that now and wished that she were at the same table as her friends. At least Draco would feel comfortable with their tablemates.

()()()()()()()()()()

A very angry Harry escorted an equally angry Ginny to their table. He was pleased to see that he was at least sitting with most of his friends. He didn't think he could take much more alone time with Ginny tonight. Ginny sat down in her chair and immediately started a conversation with Lavender, casting furious glances in Harry's direction.

"Oi mate, what's wrong with my sister?" Ron whispered to Harry.

"I wish I knew. I brought her a souvenir from New York and she threw it across the room. Hasn't spoken to me since. I'm not particularly wanting to speak to her either." He glanced over at Ginny who gave him one long look, stood up and walked toward the restrooms with Lavender and Pansy following behind.

"What's she so mad about Harry?" Alicia asked, leaning across the table.

Harry shrugged and scanned the room looking for Hermione. He couldn't wait to spend some time with her.

"She's mad about the gift he brought her from New York." Ron supplied.

"What did you bring her?" George asked.

"A miniature crystal version of the Empire State Building. It's currently in several pieces on her hearth. Cost me a pretty penny too."

"You brought her a knick-knack?" Angelina asked, with a gasp. "Are you crazy?"

"What? It was very nice."

"Oh Harry. You foolish boy." Alicia said, shaking her head.

"What the hell did I do wrong? I brought her a gift! I got it at that jewelry store she kept talking about."

"It wasn't a ring mate. She wanted a ring." Ron said sadly.

"Well she's not getting one from me." He said firmly. He realized what he had said and looked around the table. Most of the women were quite shocked by his outburst, but the men seemed to understand. He knew they just thought he was mad and that was fine for now. They didn't need to know it was over between he and Ginny before she did.

"Did you see Hermione?" Luna asked Ron. "She looked lovely."

"No, I didn't see her. Where's she sitting?" Ron looked around the room.

"I don't know but she came with Draco." George answered.

"What?" Harry said, a bit louder than he planned. "Why would she come with that git? Especially after. . . " He trailed off. "After everything he did to her." He finally came up with.

"They've become close." Blaise supplied. "An unusual pairing for sure, but you never know, it could work."

Harry sat in his chair and sulked. He knew that Hermione loved him, he was her true love after all. It didn't mean he was happy about her being Draco's date. Ginny eventually came back and they politely ignored each other throughout their meal. As the plates were cleared, Harry was surprised to see Viktor Krum approaching the table.

"Hello Ginevra, Harry, everyone." Viktor said with a polite nod of his head.

"Viktor! What a surprise, I didn't know you were coming." Harry stood up to greet his friend.

"Well, I just heard about the ball a few days ago, thanks to the lovely Ginevra. I thought it was a good cause to support."

"I'm glad you came. I didn't realize you and Ginny were in contact." Harry said, giving Ginny a questioning look.

"Viktor and I have always been friendly, but we became good friends when I was playing Quidditch. I owled him about the ball thinking that he would like to support the foundation." Ginny explained. Harry couldn't help but notice a touch of defensiveness in her voice.

Ginny's real reasons of course were to provide one more distraction for Hermione. She hoped that Viktor might be her true love and that would solve all of her problems.

After a few more moments, Viktor returned to his table and Harry and Ginny merged back into their awkward silence. As the dessert was served, Harry knew that his speech was coming up soon. He searched the room looking for any sign of Hermione. As a last resort, he started looking for Draco, assuming the two would be together. Still unable to spot them, Harry decided to head out into the hall and go over his notes.

It wasn't long into his second lap around the hallway that Hermione showed up in front of him. He was so happy to see her, all he could do was open his arms and pull her in for a hug.

Hermione relaxed into his arms. She'd missed him terribly and hated not being with him tonight. "I missed you," she confessed.

"I missed you too. I can't wait to get you into my arms to dance tonight. Promise me you'll dance with me."

"All night long if I can." Hermione whispered.

"So what the hell are you doing here with Malfoy?" Harry tried to say in a teasing voice but came out more as a growl.

"He asked me before everything between us happened and I didn't want to come alone."

"I don't like it." Harry whispered into her hair.

"You don't need to worry about Draco. He knows about us and he and I are just friends."

Harry just grunted and knew that they'd have to sort his feelings out about this another time. They heard the string quartet end their last song and knew it was time for them to welcome their guests and make their speeches. "Come up on stage with me? I'd feel better knowing you were near me." Harry asked, pulling out of her embrace.

"Of course, but only if you stay on stage for my speech."

"Absolutely. Let's go." The couple walked onto the stage and greeted their guests. Each gave a moving speech, inspiring many of the men and women present to donate more money to the foundation. They were each given a standing ovation and the applause was so loud, they had to wait several seconds before ordering the tables moved and the dancing to begin.

The only person not applauding was Ginny. She felt her stomach drop when she saw Harry and Hermione together. It could only mean one thing. They had kissed.

George noticed it as well. He also saw his sister's face slowly growing redder and redder. He knew that sign. She was going to blow. He quickly took her arm and pulled her onto the dance floor, hoping to deflect the situation. Unfortunately she wasn't having any of that and Ginny ran across the room pulling a confused Viktor Krum off to the side of the stage where Harry and Hermione were talking.

"Hermione! Look who's here! Viktor! Your old boyfriend." Ginny said frantically. She grew only more panicked when she saw Hermione greet her old friend with a hug but not a kiss. "Why didn't you kiss him? Why?" She screeched.

"Ginny, calm down. It's over. The potion is not effective anymore. Relax." Hermione tried to calm her friend but could see that she knew. Somehow she knew.

"Who is it Hermione? Who is your true love? Don't tell me it's Harry. Please don't tell me that." She sobbed. "I heard you talking to George, but it can't be true because he doesn't love you. Right Harry? Tell her. God, please tell her." She was down on her knees now and inconsolable. Harry leaned down and picked her up.

"Give me a few minutes Hermione. All right?" Harry pleaded.

"Of course Harry. I'll be waiting." She watched the love of her life as he carried his girlfriend out of the room. She just had to be strong. There was no other choice.

"So Viktor, would you like to dance?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. **

Harry sat Ginny down on a bench in the lobby and sat next to her, not touching but staying close. She was breathing hard and had an expression of absolute shock.

"It's over isn't it?" She finally whispered, her voice hoarse from crying.

"Ginny, I wasn't going to do this tonight, not with everyone around." Harry muttered running his hand through his hair. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"So what is it? You kiss her and immediately forget about me?"

"No. Not at all. I had already decided to break up with you. When I was in New York it became clear that I didn't want to marry you. I was going to end this before I knew a relationship with Hermione was even possible. Damn it! I wanted to do this the right way." He leaned forward, his head in his hands.

Ginny could see that he really was in pain, but she was in no mood to make it easier on him.

"You really think there's a right way? I've spent over half my life in love with you Harry. There is no right way."

She waited for Harry to answer but all he did was shake his head. He wouldn't even look at her.

"You realize I'm going to be alone forever if you do this. I'll never love another. I'll never marry or have children."

"Don't be dramatic Ginny, I'm not your true love, it's as simple as that." Harry was looking at her now. "You gave Hermione that potion. Hermione had to kiss her true love for it to be over before time was up. She told me that it had to be reciprocal. True love has to go both ways. If I'm Hermione's true love then she must be mine. This means I'm not yours." It all made sense to Harry and he felt the weight of the potion in his pocket. He had planned to sneak it in her drink in the next few days to prove that he wasn't really the love of her life, but now he wondered if he shouldn't give her the option tonight. He knew there was a reason he brought it with him.

"Then who is my true love Harry? All that time wasted with you! I could have been with someone who loves me!" She was mad again, the distraught woman was now in full Weasley temper. Harry was mad as well.

"Ginny Weasley! How dare you think I didn't love you? Those years were not wasted for either of us. We had bad times but think of the really good ones. Would you give them up? I loved you. I still love you, but as a friend only." Harry pulled the potion from his pocket. "Take this. It's the potion you gave Hermione. Take it and prove to yourself that I'm not the one for you." He held it out to her.

Ginny thought about what he was saying. They'd had wonderful times. He was right about that and she wouldn't trade them. She knew things hadn't been great between them lately. She should have seen this coming. She looked at the potion. If she took it and kissed him she'd know for sure. She'd also set herself up for humiliation the same way she'd set Hermione up. Was it worth it to know?

She took the vial from his outstretched arm. She saw Hermione step into the hall. "How long have you loved her Harry? Have you wanted her the whole time you were with me?"

"I don't know Gin, I really don't know. I've always loved her but I'm not sure when the love changed from friendship to more. It's been a while now."

"Why didn't you break up with me then? Why would you lead me on?" Ginny sobbed.

"I didn't think it went both ways for one thing. I had a good thing, a comfortable thing, with you and didn't want to give that up on the unknown."

Ginny turned toward Hermione who had stood silently by, unsure of her role in this. "Do you really love him?"

"Yes. I've loved him as long as I've known him." Hermione whispered.

With one more glance at Harry, Ginny lifted the vial and drank it down. It only took a few seconds before she felt her body heat up. She looked at Harry and just had to kiss him. She had no choice and Harry knew it. She stepped up to him, ran her hands through his hair and pulled his familiar lips down to hers.

She pulled away after a few moments and looked at him. She had no urge to kiss him again. The thought of kissing him, did nothing to her. She looked at Harry in shock.

"That's it?" Ginny asked. "It's over like that? It was a good kiss but I felt nothing. Was this how it was for you Hermione?"

Hermione walked up to the pair and nodded. "Yes. While I had some good kisses, they meant nothing. Nothing until I kissed Harry. The difference was amazing. I didn't want to hurt you Ginny."

"I'm sorry about the potion but right now I'm too angry to make amends. We'll talk another time all right? I can't talk to you now."

"Yes, we'll talk another time."

"I need to be alone for a while." Ginny stated, her voice dull.

"Let's go Hermione." Harry said as he took her arm. "Good bye Ginny."

()()()()()()()()()()

Harry pulled Hermione back into the ballroom and behind the stage. He needed her in his arms, he wanted to make sure it was real.

"Are you all right Harry?" Hermione whispered.

"I'm better than all right. I've got you." He sighed. "I've still got you don't I? Viktor didn't steal you away?"

"You've got me for as long as you want me."

"Good." They stood quietly together for a few minutes before Harry spoke again. "Remember when you promised to dance with me? Shall we?"

"Absolutely." She accepted his arm and they headed onto the dance floor where they quickly became wrapped up in each other once again. Hermione took a few moments to glance around the room. What she got in return was several pairs of eyes glancing at them curiously. Obviously word had gotten around that Harry and Ginny were having problems.

After their second dance, Hermione stepped away. "I think we should mingle a bit Harry. This isn't the time or place to announce to the world that we're together. It won't be good for either of us."

"Right. Good thinking. Let's head over towards Ron."

Hermione followed him over to where most of their friends were congregated near the bar. Ron had already had a few firewhiskeys too many was fighting off Bill and Charlie who were trying to get him to put his shoes back on.

"Oi! Hermione, you look bloody fantastic. Tell these gits I don't need shoes would you? I can't wear all these clothes." He slurred.

"Well Ronald, I think shoes are appropriate at a formal ball. Maybe you could put your shoes back on and take your tie off instead." Hermione laughed.

"She's brilliant!" Ron yelled. "My Hermione is so smart." He slipped back into his shoes and then proceeded to choke himself trying to remove his tie. Bill and Charlie gave her a grateful look and led him out to get some air and a sobering potion.

Hermione stayed close to Harry for most of the night, occasionally dancing with different friends and of course her date Draco. She laughed at the look on Harry's face as she twirled in Draco's arms. Draco didn't help matters by purposely moving his hand lower and lower right in front of Harry. After their dance, she pulled him aside.

"Draco, I really am sorry about all of this. I haven't been a very good date."

"Don't worry Hermione, I've had plenty of women throwing themselves at me. I even got a very interesting kiss from Ginny Weasley. She stomped her foot afterward, said something about how much money I had and walked away."

"She took the true love potion." Hermione laughed. Even though she felt bad for Ginny, she was certainly happy she had a taste of her own medicine.

"Ah that explains it. Maybe I should ask Pansy for some of that."

"Draco, could you do me a favor?"

"Anything. Unless it involves being nice to Potter."

"We'll talk about that later. See that woman over there? By the doorway. That's my friend Melissa and she gets very nervous around men. She's completely fun and outgoing but she gets a bit giggly when around handsome men. I was hoping you might ask her to dance. I don't think she's having much fun." Hermione looked at Draco as he scanned the direction she had pointed. She also saw the interest that lit in his eyes as he found Melissa.

"I've seen her before. She works in your department right?" At Hermione's nod he continued, "She's pretty. I'll dance with her and use my abundant charms on her."

"Thank you Draco. For everything." Hermione watched as he strolled casually over toward Melissa. She saw her friend's nervous reaction and her eyes sparkle as she talked to Draco. He led her out to the dance floor and gave Hermione a wink. "That just might work out." She mumbled to herself. Still watching her friends dance, she was surprised to feel a hand lightly caressing the back of her neck. She turned to find Harry standing close.

"Shall I take you home?" Harry murmured, his voice deep and silky. She shivered at the tone. She nodded and they headed over to their friends to say their goodbyes. They noticed that there was a lot of whispering and nervous glances as they walked up.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked as they approached Pansy and Lavender.

"Oh, well. . . Hi Harry!" Pansy squeaked. Ron walked up at that point and put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I'm sorry mate. I'm not sure what's got into her." Ron hung his head as he patted Harry on the back.

"What's got into who?" Harry asked.

"Something has got into Ginny. I hate to be the one to tell you this but she's been snogging half the guys in this place."

"Oh, well that's to be expected since she took that true love potion." Hermione answered.

"She did what?" Lavender yelled. "No wonder she said she found her true love."

"She did?" Harry asked. "That was fast. Who is it?"

"Well, she's still snogging him over in the corner." Pansy told them.

Harry and Hermione looked over and started laughing. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and they headed for the door.

"Where are you two going?" George called out.

"Home mate, we're going home." Harry answered.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

Once back at Hermione's flat, they attacked each other. Hands and lips and legs were tangled as they fought for more of each other. "Harry, you aren't going to stop this time are you?" Hermione managed to gasp out.

"I don't think I could if a train were about to hit me." Harry told her as he tried desperately to unhook the top of her dress. "Success!" He called out as he pulled the zipper down. His hand brushed over her smooth skin and he groaned as his body reacted instantly.

"My room." Hermione ordered. "Now." She grabbed his hand and pulled him into her bedroom. She pulled off her dress and threw it towards her closet, for once not caring about wrinkles. She heard Harry's gasp as he saw her in her lingerie. She was quite thankful that she was wearing a matching set. The fact that they were shear and didn't cover much was just an added bonus.

Harry just stood there, not saying a word. He couldn't believe that this woman, his best friend, was standing there in front of him. It wasn't just her lack of clothes that was robbing him of his voice. It was her. His Hermione. She was offering him more than he ever dreamed was possible, not just a night of amazing sex, but a future that he actually wanted. He moved toward her and lifted her face to him. He lightly touched his lips to hers, not in a kiss of passion but in a kiss of absolute adoration. The frantic mood that they had arrived in, was gone now and everything was different.

"Harry? Is everything all right?" Hermione felt the change in the air.

"Everything is exactly as it should be. I love you Hermione."

"I love you too Harry." They kissed again, leisurely, long, slow, packed with every emotion they had kept from each other all those years. They didn't need to rush anything, they just needed to feel. The night was spent in each other's arms, discovering each other in ways they'd only dreamed of.

()()()()()()()()()

One Year Later

"Harry, get off of me." Hermione grunted as she tried to push her husband off of her. "We've got to get up. We're going to be late."

"No. I'm staying right here with you all day." Harry groaned. "I don't want to get dressed up again. It seems we've been to a hundred weddings in the last month." He reluctantly rolled off of her and lay flat on his back.

"We've been to six in the last 6 months. One of which was our own." Hermione said as she got up and headed in to take a shower. Thirty minutes later he was still in the same position, his eyes closed and a smile on his face.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked as she pulled her dress out of the closet.

"Pulling you back into bed with me." He said with a grin.

"Nice try but we really don't have time." Hermione scolded. "We have to be at the Burrow in less than a half hour. Ginny wants all her bridesmaids there early. Besides, do you realize what Molly will do to us if we're late? This is her last wedding before the grandchildren get older and her only chance to be the Mother of the Bride. She will never forgive us. She's already mad at me for not fitting into my bridesmaid's dress. That's all your fault by the way."

He got up and stood behind her, resting his hands on her stomach, feeling the little bump that was causing chaos. "It's a good thing you're a witch then. A wave of your wand and the dress fits perfectly."

Hermione linked her hands with his over her growing belly. "In a few months it's going to take more than magic for my clothes to fit. At least Angelina's in the same situation. You really need to get dressed. Viktor expects his groomsmen to be wearing more than boxers."

"He won't care what we're wearing as long as Ginny comes down the aisle." Harry walked to the closet to get his dress robes. "Once I saw you coming toward me, everyone could have been naked and I never would have noticed. My eyes were only on you."

"And mine on you. I love you Harry."

"I love you too my beautiful wife."

()()()()()()()()()()()

After the wedding, the reception was in full swing. Ron was in complete awe of all the professional Quidditch players in attendance and was making quite a fool of himself trying to share his own Quidditch glory days from Hogwarts. Luna, the perfect example of a patient wife, stood by with a dreamy smile on her face.

Harry grimaced when he saw Draco and Melissa heading his way. He and Draco were on better terms and he liked Melissa, now that she could actually talk to him, but Malfoy still wasn't his favorite person.

"Hey Potter and Potter." Draco smirked. "It's good to see the Weaslette finally married off."

"I don't know about you but I'm done with weddings for a while." Harry told them.

"Well, how about at least one more?" Melissa asked.

"What?" Hermione squealed noticing the ring on her hand.

()()()()()()()()()()

As the reception wound down, Harry and Hermione stood at the edge of the pond looking at the stars. "This is where I told George about my feelings for you. It was the first time I'd ever said them out loud to another person." Hermione shared.

"I'm just glad you finally told me." Harry whispered

"I'm just glad Ginny gave me that potion, so I'd have no excuse."

They turned to each other and once again shared a true loves kiss.

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews, good and bad. I went through a lot personally during the writing of this and it took much longer than I anticipated. Thank you for sticking with me. **


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